We’re in the home stretch of the NBA season, and Sports of Boston is on top of all the recent news and notes in “The Atlantic”.

Will continuity help the Celtics? Is Evan Turner a budding star? Who will be on the Nets’ billboards this summer in Brooklyn?

The playoffs are just weeks away for the teams in… “The Atlantic.”

Boston Celtics (23-21, 2nd place)

Trending Up: Continuity

In a league where rhythm matters so much, continuity of roster can be a huge deal. Last year the Celtics added/subtracted five players in the second half of the season, won seven of their first 10 after the All-Star Break, then struggled down the stretch. At this year’s trade deadline the Celtics did the opposite of what they did last year: nothing. This current group of Celtics has its flaws, but they are developing a rhythm and in the NBA that’s important.

Trending Down: ‘The Window’

The Celtics are in the fifth year of a three-year window. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen‘s championship aspirations as a unit are all but over. Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge and the Big 3 have also come to terms with it. These Celtics are going to put up quite a fight in the playoffs, but no one is aimlessly trying to get the fans’ hopes up.

Philadelphia 76ers (25-20, 1st Place)

Trending Up: Evan Turner

Coming out of Ohio State, everyone knew Turner had all the intangibles to go a long way in the NBA. The questions NBA scouts began to ask following Turner’s rough rookie season are being answered now as Turner has averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists over the last five games. It will be interesting to see if Turner’s emergence will push Philly to explore Andre Iguodala’s trade market again this summer.

Trending Down: Ability to create space in the division

Win three, lose two – that’s the story of the Sixers season. The Sixers lead the Celtics by just a game and a half and have huge division games coming up against Boston and New York. The 76ers’ inability to create space between themselves and the Celtics could seriously hurt their season if they drop to seventh and have to face Miami in the first round of the playoffs.

New York Knicks (21-24, 3rd place)

Trending Up: Signs of Life

Mike Woodson is now the head coach of the Knicks, and their results since have been off the charts, blowing out the Blazers on Wednesday and the Pacers Friday. A week ago, people were completely writing the Knicks off. This week, the Knicks are in a dogfight with the Bucks for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern conference.

Trending Down: Mike D’Antoni

D’Antoni’s NBA coaching career may be over. In professional sports, X’s and O’s matter. D’Antoni seems to think you can teach X’s without O’s. He had success in Phoenix because he had Steve Nash, but D’Antoni is a bit too much of a novelty to coach in the NBA.

Toronto Raptors (15-30, 4th place)

Trending Up: Jerryd Bayless

While Jose Calderon sat the last couple games with an ankle sprain, Bayless has emerged in a big way, averaging 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds over the last five games. Immaturity on and off the court may have crippled Bayless’ early years, but he’s still just 23. The Raptors can expect more improvement than what they’ve seen this season.

Trending Down: Playing games without Andrea Bargnani

If you judge the Raptors winning percentage just on games that Bargnani has played in, they would be in the seventh spot in the East. As it is, the Raptors are 13th. Bargnani is back and completely healthy, which is bad news for Raptors fans if they want the team to shoot for a high lottery pick.

New Jersey Nets (15-30, 5th place)

Trending Up: the Panic Button

As soon as the Nets realized they had no shot at Dwight Howard this season or via free-agency in the off-season, they starting using their high lottery pick as trade bait and landed Gerald Wallace. Now the Nets look headed for the middle of the East the next few seasons instead of eventually headed to the top. The Nets’ plan was foiled, and it doesn’t appear they have a plan B.

Trending Down: the Duo

The billboards in Brooklyn this summer are going to look a lot different now, with Deron Williams appearing next to a bunch of lesser-known players.  Howard and Williams plastered all over Brooklyn would have created so much buzz for the team. Now the Nets are scrambling to convince Williams to re-sign so that they at least have him to sell the team to New York basketball fans.

© Nathan for Sports of Boston, 2012. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Celtics, Featured, NBA, Opinion.

In “The Atlantic,” Sports of Boston “trends up” and “trends down” the news and notes from the NBA’s grittiest division.

How healthy are the Celtics? Can the Sixers fend off the surging Knicks? Are the Raptors tanking? Can the Nets’ swagger keep Deron Williams from fleeing in free-agency? The mysteries of  the Atlantic will be revealed.

Boston Celtics (15-17, 3rd place)

Trending Up: Avery Bradley

The Celtics are 11-5 when Avery Bradley plays at least 15 minutes and just 4-12 when he rides the pine. Bradley’s 12 points, five assists and three blocks against Oklahoma City was the best stat line of his young career. Bradley will never be a star, nor a starting point guard probably, but his positive influence on games will keep him in the NBA for a long time. Career backup position-less guards like Randy Brown, Tony Delk and Eddie House have created a niche, and Bradley’s athleticism and youth entering the league give him much greater potential than any of them ever had.

Trending Down: Physical and mental health

Five straight losses is tough on any team, but is it tougher on a team that thinks it should be contending for a title? Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo’s composure have all been suspect lately. Kevin Garnett is trying his hardest to keep the Celtics moving in the right direction on both ends of the court, but there’s only so much his body has left to give. Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Wilcox appear as brittle as Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable. The Celtics now have six days off for the All-Star break – it’s an important six days for the franchise.

Philadelphia 76ers (20-14, 1st Place)

Trending Up: Opponent Defenses

The Sixers, like the Celtics, have lost five straight. But unlike the Celtics, it’s a bit easier to see why the losses are piling up- opponent defenses. The Sixers started the season by playing the worst defensive teams in the league, so their sub-par offense remained unexposed. But three of Philadelphia’s last five opponents have defenses in the league’s top ten, and the other two rank no lower than 18th. It’s not a surprise that over the last five games Philly is averaging just 83 points a game.

Trending Down: Atlantic Division Title

The 76ers’ Atlantic Division lead is all the way down to three games. With the Knicks surging and the Celtics still not out of the picture, the likelihood that Philadelphia can hang on and win the division is dwindling fast.

New York Knicks (17-17, 2nd place)

Trending Up: Ticket Prices

Three weeks ago you could sit court-side at MSG next to Spike Lee for about $800. Then Linsanity happened, J.R. Smith was signed, Baron Davis and  Carmelo Anthony returned from injury and the Knicks won eight of 10. Now, sitting court-side at the Garden means being willing to shell out about 10 grand.

Trending Down: The temperature of Mike D’Antoni’s seat

D’Antoni’s coaching seat was scorching less than thre weeks ago. If you fail with the Knicks it just about ruins your coaching career (ask Larry Brown). Jeremy Lin came along and not only saved the Knicks season, but may have also save Mike D’Antoni’s career. D’Antoni is highly unlikely to get fired this season and even if he gets fired after the season, now he’s likely to coach again.

Toronto Raptors (10-23, 4th place)

Trending Up: Tradeable assets

DeMar DeRozan has found his shooting touch. Amir Johnson and Ed Davis are potential double-double threats, and Jared Bayless has had stretches of very good play this season. Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani have proven to be a pretty solid two-fifths of a starting lineup. If Toronto can flip a couple of their youngsters for a veteran or two and  draft smart in June, the rebuilding process might not be as hopeless as advertised by the majority of the sports media.

Trending Down: Clarity surrounding Bargnani’s injury

Andrea Bargnani has been listed as having a ‘sore left calf’ for most of the season. Maybe it’s just me, but is a sore calf really something your best player misses 19 out of 33 games for? Either there’s something else wrong with Bargnani that the Raptors aren’t talking about, or Toronto is in full-on tank mode.

New Jersey Nets (10-25, 5th place)

Trending Up: Swagger

On paper and healthy, the Nets are a .500 team and they know it. Last week the Nets went into Chicago and MSG and came out with two big wins. Brook Lopez is back; Marshon Brooks is healthy; Deron Williams is playing out of his mind, and Kris Humphries is a double-double machine.  This team still has a chance to finish in the 8-10 range in the Eastern conference, but will being a fringe playoff team be enough to convince Deron Williams to stick around?

Trending Down: Training Staff

Yeah, again. New Jersey has their starting line-up pretty much in-tact finally, but now they don’t have a bench. The first three players that our supposed to be coming off the Nets bench – Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and Jordan Farmar – are all expected to now miss considerable time. If the Nets are lucky the starters won’t re-injure themselves by playing too many minutes.

© Nathan for Sports of Boston, 2012. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Celtics, Featured, NBA, Opinion.

Welcome to “The Atlantic,” a weekly column where we ‘trend up’ and ‘trend down’ news and notes from the NBA’s Atlantic Division.

The Boston Celtics are no longer the most disappointing team in the Atlantic Division – the Knicks are. Is Andrea Bargnani a top-10 power forward? Can the New Jersey Nets still make the playoffs? After a cool stretch, things are heating up again in the Atlantic.

Boston Celtics (9-9, Second place)

Trending Up: Team Confidence

The Celtics’ confidence was at its lowest point of the season when they lost to Phoenix 79-71 a week ago at home. Since then the Celtics have rattled off four wins in a row while playing without Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. The team’s confidence is now sky high. E’Twaun Moore isn’t afraid to shoot the ball anymore. Marquis Daniels in playing more like himself. Avery Bradley looks confident enough to dribble the ball up the court without immediately passing it. Sasha Pavlovic isn’t backing down from anyone on defense. Even Chris Wilcox decided to show up for the season. The Celtics’ burst of confidence starts with the captain, Paul Pierce, who has been superb. Pierce is averaging 26 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds in his last 4 games, whereas Lebron James is averaging 27.6 and 8 in his. No one in the league is playing with more confidence right now than Pierce.

Trending Down: Trade Talk

As long as this team continues to win, it stays together. Simple, right? Well, not quite. For now the trade talk has cooled, but if a Western Conference team blows Danny Ainge away with a deal for Pierce, I think he still takes it. Ainge has said he is not afraid to break this team up for the future of the franchise, and I believe him. Stay tuned.

Philadelphia 76ers (14-6, First place)

Trending Up: Jodie Meeks’ Shooting Stroke

Jodie Meeks was hard to watch to when season startedm but thanks to a strong week, he’s now shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc. For a team that’s short on effective long-range shooters, Meeks heating up has to be a good sign in Philadelphia.

Trending Down: Strength of Schedule

If you count Atlanta and Indiana as Philadelphia’s two good wins, the rest of the teams they’ve beaten have a combined winning percentage below 36 percent. Philadelphia’s strength of schedule so far has not been good. A third of the Sixers wins have come at the expense of Washington and Detroit. Now the Sixers embark on one of the toughest seven-game stretches any team in the NBA will see this year. Let’s check back in two weeks before proclaiming the Sixers ‘elite.’

New York Knicks (7-13, T-Third place)

Trending Up: Blueprint for Beating Them

When you get blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks at home, and a few days later get dominated by the Cleveland Cavaliers, you’ve got problems. The Knicks have dropped eight of nine because teams have figured out how to beat them. All you have to do is let Carmelo Anthony shoot the ball and then box the hell out. Anthony is shooting horribly in January. Until the Knicks switch up the isolation offense, they are going to keep losing games.

Trending Down: Mike D’Antoni

The Knicks are losing games they shouldn’t be. The Knicks roster has elite talent on it. The conclusion is simple: If the Knicks aren’t at least at .500 by the All-Star break, D’Antoni is gone. New York has former Altanta Hawks head coach Mike Woodson sitting on it’s bench ready to take over should the Knicks let D’Antoni go.

New Jersey Nets (7-13, T-Third place)

Trending Up: Playoff Odds

The Nets have won two straight and are a game back of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Who currently holds that seed? Cleveland. If the Knicks keep losing and Milwaukee Bucks’ center Andrew Bogut struggles to recover from a fractured ankle, the door is wide open for the Nets. The last playoff team in the Eastern Conference is going to be a bad team; why shouldn’t the Nets aim to be that bad team?

Trending Down: Urgency to make a move

If New Jersey can sneak into the playoffs and Orlando decides to try and hold onto Dwight Howard, that puts the Nets in a really good position. In 2012, the Brooklyn Nets will have enough cap space to sign Howard outright. Waiting to sign Howard as a free agent instead of trading for him allows the Nets to hold onto their greatest trade asset, Brook Lopez. A scary thought for the Celtics and the rest of the Eastern Conference.

Toronto Raptors (6-14, Fifth place)

Trending Up: Andrea Bargnani’s Value

The Raptors are 6-5 with a healthy Andrea Bargnani in the lineup, and 0-8 without. You could make the case that no one in the league means more to their team then the 7-foot Italian forward. Bargnani is sixth in the league in scoring and posts career highs in rebounding, field goal percentage, assists, and free throw attempts. Bargnani is becoming one of the top-10 power forwards in the game. With Bargnani, the Raptors are a fringe playoff team. Unfortunately for Toronto, Bargnani isn’t healthy.

Trending Down: Basketball in Canada

It’s Hockey season in Canada and the Raptors have lost nine of 11. Do you think anyone in Canada really cares that there is currently a basketball team playing Toronto? Things couldn’t be uglier for Canada’s only NBA team.

© Nathan for Sports of Boston, 2012. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Celtics, Featured, NBA, Opinion, Rumors.

Welcome to “The Atlantic,” a weekly column where we ‘trend up’ and ‘trend down’ news and notes from the NBA’s Atlantic Division.

The rumblings of Kevin Garnett’s decline are getting louder. Are the 76ers or the Nets in a better position to land Dwight Howard? Is there anything to be excited about in Toronto? What’s noteworthy in the Atlantic this week?

Boston Celtics (4-8, Third Place)

Trending Up: Talk of Kevin Garnett’s decline

The local media has been talking about Kevin Garnett‘s declining play since the season started, but the national media is just beginning to notice. Garnett’s numbers are down, it’s not  hard to see that, but his mental lapses are even more really worrisome for the 16-year veteran. Garnett often looks lost on the court this season. He’s at his highest turnover rate since 2006, and he lacks the poise we’ve come to expect from him. Maybe he figures it out, maybe he doesn’t, but we definitely haven’t heard the last of Garnett’s struggles.

Trending Down: The shooting of Ray Allen and Brandon Bass

In the last four games, Ray Allen has shot 14-for-37 and Brandon Bass 14-for-35. Their angelic early-season shooting has since come back to earth. Were the Celtics a complete team, this wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, for the Celtics to compete this season, Allen and Bass have to be red hot every night. If the duo that started the season on fire can regain their heat, the Celtics’ offense should find its groove.

Philadelphia 76ers (10-3, First Place)

Trending Up: Trade Chips

Philadelphia is lurking behind Oklahoma City as the hottest team in the NBA, and the 76ers can upgrade their roster significantly without gutting it. If you’re looking for a team that would rent Dwight Howard for a shot at a title, look no further than Philadelphia. A package of Jrue Holliday, Spencer Hawes, Evan Turner, Andres Nocioni (for filler) and draft picks is much better than what I see from any other team interested. Add Howard to the already-potent defense of the Sixers and they could become one of the best defensive squads the NBA has ever seen.

Trending Down: Doubt

The Sixers just have to win games to prove their doubters wrong. If the 76ers keep winning games and maintain their current, blistering +15 point differential, we’ll be hearing a lot more about them in June.

New York Knicks (6-7, Second Place)

Trending Up: Iman Shumpert

Iman Shumpert is the lone bright spot in the Knicks’ backcourt rotation. Landry Fields, Mike Bibby and Toney Douglas just aren’t cutting it for the Knicks, while the Knicks’ first-round pick is averaging 11 points, three rebounds and three assists a game. Shumpert is also third in the league in steals. Shumpert’s ups and downs have been plentiful in the young season, but the rookie’s charisma has been enough to capture the Madison Square Garden crowd. If you’re going to play for the Knicks, the fans have to like you, and New York loves Shumpert.

Trending Down: Offensive efficiency

The Knicks are 26th in the league in field goal percentage, 26th in assists, and 24th in three-point shooting. Mike D’Antoni teams are usually juggernauts on offense, but these Knicks aren’t. If the Knicks continue to play sub-par basketball, questions about whether or not D’Antoni is the right coach for this team are sure to arise again.

Toronto Raptors (4-10, Fourth Place)

Trending Up: Lottery odds

FACT: The Raptors need to land a superstar. FACT: The 2012 NBA draft looks to be full of potential superstars. FACT: Losing games improves an NBA team’s odds of a high draft pick. FACT: The Toronto Raptors are losing games.

Trending Down: Everything else

The Raptors gave the Washington Wizards their first win of the season. For an encore, Toronto lost to Sacramento, then lost their next three. Shooting is down. Rebounding is down. Their best player, Andrea Bargnani, is down with an injury. The Celtics and Raptors have both lost five in a row. Boston’s lone bright spot is that its next opponent is Toronto.

New Jersey Nets (3-11, Fifth Place)

Trending Up: Team health

There’s some good news in Newark/Brooklyn. Deron Williams and Kris Humphries are healthy and playing again. The boot on Brook Lopez‘s previously broken foot will come off later this week. The Nets don’t want to put a timetable on Lopez’s return, but if all goes according to plan, he should be on the court at practice sometime next week. The Nets may finally get to see what their full roster looks like on the court together.

Trending Down: Odds of winning Dwight Howard sweepstakes

Dwight Howard added the L.A. Clippers to the list of teams he would potentially like to play for. Every team Dwight Howard adds hurts the Nets’ leverage to acquire him via trade. A package built on Lopez, Morrow and picks can certainly be topped by the Clippers, Lakers, Sixers or anyone else who may care to enter the bidding. I’m starting to wonder how plausible it is that Howard ends up in Brooklyn next year.

© Nathan for Sports of Boston, 2012. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Celtics, Featured, NBA.

Doc Rivers gave his starters the first half of Wednesday’s home game against the Toronto Raptors, then turned it over to the bench.

The Boston Celtics bench played virtually the entire second half, maintaining a large first-half lead to beat the Raptors, 81-73.

A two-game preseason might not say much, but the Celtics finished theirs undefeated.

Rondo Runs the Offense, O’Neal the Defense

Missing Paul Pierce due to a heel injury, Rajon Rondo took over as the Celtics’ primary scoring threat. He set the offensive pace immediately, knocking down an 18-foot jumper to open the scoring, then doing it again from almost the same spot three minutes later to cap an 8-0 Celtics run to start the game.

Rondo’s second basket followed a block from Jermaine O’Neal – O’Neal’s second in the game’s opening four minutes. O’Neal may be the Celtics’ only center, but Wednesday night he showed he might have what it takes. The Raptors could never get an interior game going with O’Neal on the court, having to settle for long-range jumpers and three-pointers they couldn’t sink with much better than 30 percent accuracy.

Rondo and O’Neal hooked up again later in the first, with Rondo driving through the paint before kicking it out to O’Neal in the low post. O’Neal caught the pass, then in one motion fed it back to Rondo, whom the Raptors left under the basket. Rondo easily laid it in, putting the Celtics up 14-7.

Rondo finished the game with 17 points in 23 minutes. O’Neal didn’t score, but he blocked four shots and pulled down two rebounds in just 12 minutes.

Bench Relies on Defense to Maintain Lead

Given the age of their starters, the Celtics will rely more and more on their bench as this abbreviated-but-concentrated (16 fewer games, but 30 fewer days off) NBA season goes on. Rivers cares way more about getting his bench experience than winning a preseason game.

The Celtics’ starters built a 16-point lead heading into halftime, and Rivers entrusted it to the bench in the second half. With Toronto’s starters playing over 60 percent of the game, Boston’s reserves got plenty of practice with real competition. The results were mixed.

The Celtics got 23 points from Brandon Bass and E’Twaun Moore, but only Bass shot well, draining four of five shots. Moore shot 2-for-5 – third-most-accurate on the bench behind Bass and Chris Wilcox‘s 1-for-2 night.

Bass showed plenty of muscle and length Wednesday night. On one third-quarter play, he made a terrific fake, then drove to the basket and forcefully dunked it.

The basket capped an 8-0 run that lengthened Boston’s lead 57-52 to 65-52. The Raptors couldn’t get the score that close again.

Beyond Bass and Moore, however, the bench struggled to score points or even run an offense. Too many drives ended in turnovers, shots in traffic with the clock running down, or easy defensive rebounds. The bench outscored the starters 46-35, but they also took 12 more free throws, going 18-for-23 at the line.

To their credit, the bench did not allow their confused, stagnant offense to corrupt their defense. The pesky, frustrating Celtics defense stole nine and blocked nine Wednesday, with six steals and four blocks coming from the bench.

Avery Bradley led the bench with three steals, using his lightning-quick reactions to disrupt Toronto passes and create fast-break opportunities. When Bradley robbed Andrea Bargnani (20 points) late in the third, Bradley dished the ball to Moore, who then drew a shooting foul. Moore sank both free throws to put the Celtics up 72-55.

Celtics Still Weak Under the Basket

Despite O’Neal’s success stopping layups, the Celtics still struggled mightily on the boards. The Raptors out-rebounded the Celtics 48-38, including grabbing 17 offensive boards.

The Raptors extended too many drives in the second half with offensive rebounds. The exhausted Celtics bench had to slow their offense to a crawl just to get a few seconds of rest.

Ray Allen led the Celtics Wednesday with six rebounds, including four offensive. Though developmental league-star Greg Stiemsma contributed five more (all defensive), as did Marquis Daniels, no defense run through Allen’s rebounding can consistently win.

© Matt Goisman for Sports of Boston, 2011. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Celtics, Featured, Top Story.

Every Monday, I will report on the events of the past week of fantasy basketball. I will go over each position and what particular player that week stood out from all the rest. As always, I will start off with this week’s notable injuries to report on.

Injuries

Tony Parker (PG), San Antonio Spurs

Parker is once again hurt, but this time, it is serious. The Spurs guard broke a finger in his right hand. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Parker will miss up to six weeks.

Rodney Stuckey (PG, SG), Detroit Pistons

A scary moment for Pistons fans as Stuckey collapsed on the Detroit bench on Friday night. As of today, Stuckey is still undergoing tests and his return is still uncertain.

Marcus Camby (PF, C), Portland Trail Blazers

Camby finds himself in familiar territory as he missed Sunday’s game against Denver with a sprained ankle. Consider him day-to-day for now.

Best Players of the Week

Dwyane Wade (PG, SG), Miami Heat

The soon-to-be free agent had himself quite a week with 33.3 points and 12.0 assists. His shooting was good (49.3%) and he threw in 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 1.7 3PTM.

Darren Collison (PG, SG), New Orleans Hornets

He has gone from temporary replacement to featured stud around here. Collison is still doing a phenomenal job filling in for Chris Paul and last week was more of the same as he scored 19.7 points on 56.5% shooting with 10.3 assists, 2.3 steals, 1.0 3PTM, and a perfect FT%.

LeBron James (SF), Cleveland Cavaliers

Even for LeBron this was ridiculous. Averaging a near triple-double for the week, King James put up 29.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 2.7 steals, 1.7 blocks, and 1.3 3PTM.

David West (PF), New Orleans Hornets

The Wild Wild West was one of the best forwards this past week as he scored 16.7 points on 50.0% shooting while adding 8.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 2.7 blocks.

Andrew Bogut (C), Milwaukee Bucks

Bogut showed off great offensive and defensive skills with 16.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and an incredible 4.3 blocks.

You Could Have Done Better

Steve Nash (PG), Phoenix Suns

A real stinker for Nash as he scored just 9.8 points on 41.0% shooting. Yes, the 10.8 assists were great, but the 0.5 steals and 0.3 3PTM were crap.

Joe Johnson (PG, SG, SF), Atlanta Hawks

J.J. shot a pathetic 33.8% from the field, resulting in only 15.5 points. His rebounds and assists were decent, but they don’t make up for the terrible shooting.

Hedo Turkoglu (SG, SF), Toronto Raptors

Turk’s struggles continue in Canada as he scored only 8.0 points on 36.4% shooting and his assists, rebounds and 3 PTM were also down.

Marcus Camby (PF, C), Portland Trail Blazers

Even before the injury, Camby stunk up the court in two games as he scored only 2.0 points on 33.3% shooting with 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.

Andrea Bargnani (PF, C), Toronto Raptors

Something stinks…and it was Bargnani’s playing last week. How stinky? Well how ’bout 11.3 points on 35.7% shooting with 4.7 rebounds and missing all of his free throws? Yeah, leaves a bad taste in your mouth don’t it?

Players to Pick Up

Quentin Richardson (SG, SF), Miami Heat

Richardson played 35+ minutes in every game last week and it resulted in 20.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and a ridiculous 4.7 3PTM.

Rodrgue Beaubois (PG, SG), Dallas Mavericks

The injury to Jason Terry has opened up playing time for Beaubois, who averaged 21.0 points and 2.3 3PTM last week.

Carlos Delfino (SG, SF), Milwaukee Bucks

Delfino has caught fire lately and he averaged a double-double last week with 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in three games.

Marcus Thornton (PG, SG), New Orleans Hornets

If you don’t pick Thornton up now, then I will just join your league and take him for myself. Last week was another gem as he put up 24.0 points on 56.0% shooting with 3.3 3PTM.

George Hill (PG, SG), San Antonio Spurs

Hill will get the most playing time with the injury to Tony Parker. As a starter this season, he is averaging 16.7 points.

Sports of Boston Basketball League

• I lose 6-3 to stay stuck in 10th. The playoffs are not in my sight.
• SoB’s Teddy pulls out a 6-3 win to tighten his hold on 1st place.
• Recent pickups include: Tayshaun Prince, Jrue Holiday, and Marvin Williams.

© Pete Rampino for Sports of Boston, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments
Filed under: Fantasy, Featured.

The 2009-10 basketball season is just a couple days away and many fantasy leagues will be drafting their teams this weekend. This is why I took it upon myself to comprise a top-10 list for each position, along with likes/dislikes. In addition to the lists, I will give you the secret to finding success when drafting each position. So screw the introduction, let’s get right to strategy.

Point Guards: (Target FT%, AST, STL, 3PT)

When coming out of the draft you want to have at least three point guards, but the more depth the better. The ideal point guard will provide you with free throw percentage, assists, steals and three pointers, while limiting his turnovers. Obviously, if you are drafting Chris Paul you aren’t alarmed by his three turnovers per game because of his elite numbers elsewhere.

Point guards will go off the board early and often because everyone wants their shot at the elite group, but don’t be alarmed if you only have one PG going into the sixth round because you can find nice value in the later rounds with guys like Jason Terry, Mike Bibby, Andre Miller and T.J. Ford.

Shooting Guards: (Target PTS, FG%, STL, 3PT)

Here is where you want to draft your scorers. You want to get guys who shoot for high percentages, threes and get steals. I tend to go more for the guys who provide more categories than elite scorers because if you can find assists with points and percentages at both PG and SG you are sitting pretty. Remember, a player who posts 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and one steal is better than a guy who posts 24 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Small Forward: (Target your choice of stats)

You can go several ways with your small forwards. You can go offensive (Danny Granger, Jason Richardson), defensive (Shawn Marion, Josh Smith) or balanced (Vince Carter, Andre Iguodala). Either way you need to choose a direction to go with your swing man and stick with it. I tend to go for more defensive minded small forwards because I find those stats the hardest to fill.

Power Forward: (Target BLK, REB, FG%)

The most important thing when drafting power forwards is to make sure they have good FG% and block totals. This position is very deep and while a lot of them will get drafted early, there will be a lot of value in the later rounds of your draft.

Center: (Target BLK, REB, FG%)

There is a lot of value to be had at the center position thanks, in large part, to a lot of players qualifying at both forward and center. You never want to draft a center who shoots lower than 48% from the field and if he shoots over 70 percent from the line that is a plus. You can afford to pass on guys like Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh in the first round because you can land players like Luis Scola, Al Horford, Troy Murphy and David Lee in the middle-to-late rounds of your draft.

Now that you know what to look for in the draft you can use that knowledge to draft well and win your league. Good luck!

Point Guards

Two Players I Love

Jason Terry, PG/SG, Dallas

Every year he slips in drafts and ends up producing better than his draft position. He’s a great source of threes and doesn’t hurt your FG% or FT%. He is also a cheap source for assists and will average over one steal per game.

Jameer Nelson, PG, Orlando

Nelson’s very nice 2008-09 season was ended prematurely when he injured his shoulder. The 27-year-old was having a career year in points (16.7), threes (2.0) and FG% (50.3%). He fits the point guard mold perfectly by contributing in assists, steals, and threes, but he also adds very good percentages and points.

Two Players I Hate

Raymond Felton, PG, Charlotte

Felton is a turnover machine who shoots for a very low percentage. He provides good assists (6.7) and steals (1.5), but he hurts you in too many categories. D.J. Augustine is breathing down his neck as the future starting point guard in Charlotte, so you have an unstable situation that won’t be worth the mid-round pick you will have to use on him.

Ramon Sessions, PG/SG, Sacramento

There has been a lot of talk about Ramon Session in the off season and I don’t understand why. He doesn’t stand out in any category and provides nothing from three point range, which I like my point guards to do. Also, the fact that Minnesota drafted Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio means they do not see their future with Sessions at the point. Obviously Rubio is gone, but Flynn should take over the point guard duties sometime this season.

Don’t Sleep On…

Russell Westbrook, PG, Oklahoma City

Despite shooting just 39 percent from the field, Westbrook managed to score 15.3 points per game and shoot 81 percent from the line. Add 5.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds and you have a nice foundation that Westbrook can build on in his second pro season. Not many point guards contribute that well in the rebound category so that is a nice bonus.

Shooting Guards

Two Players I Love

John Salmons, SG/SF, Chicago

With Ben Gordon gone, Salmons will have the job all to himself. He impressed me last season with solid numbers in points (18.3), FG% (47.2%) and threes (1.6). He doesn’t stand out in any one category, but he doesn’t hurt you either. Look for an increased role on the offense to boost his numbers this season.

Leandro Barbosa, SG/PG, Phoenix

He is more limited by the minutes he gets than his talent, but if he can get up to around 30 mintues per game you can expect 17 points, 1.5 threes, 1+ steals and high percentages for the season.

Two Players I Hate

Jamal Crawford, SG/PG, Atlanta

Last season he was the ultimate tease. You would think he was dead and then he would pop off a 50-point night. Don’t fall into the trap. For one, Crawford gives you inconsistency and an awful field goal percentage. He is also on Atlanta, which means he is playing behind Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson, so his minutes will be limited.

Allen Iverson, SG/PG, Memphis

Iverson is an interesting player this year. He is on Memphis and will most likely come off the bench, thus limiting his true potential. I think for what you have to pay to get him, he won’t be worth it because that backcourt (Conley, Mayo, Gay) is loaded and it is still uncertain how the minutes will get divided up.

Don’t Sleep On…

Randy Foye, SG/PG, Washington

He’s stuck in a bad situation in Washington thanks to the plethora of guards on the roster, but he is considered the starter right now and if he can keep that job and get 30+ minutes per game he will be a valuable asset in points, assists, steals and threes.

Small Forwards

Two Players I Love

J.R. Smith, SF/SG, Denver

I’ll admit that he is not the most consistent player in fantasy, but I have a bit of a man crush on him. He provides instant offense off the bench, but coach George Karl has yet to give him consistent minutes, so you will have to bank he has a breakout year. He is deadly from three-point range (2.2) and with more playing time he would be a good source of steals as well.

Charlie Villanueva, SF/PF, Detroit

Fantasy owner have to be relieved that Villanueva has a starting job this year. Last season, Villanueva played just 26.9 minutes per game, but contributed solid numbers in points (16.2), rebounds (6.7), threes (1.1) and blocks (0.7). He also knocks down his free throws, which is a huge plus for a big man. I expect big things out of him this season especially with very little depth in the Pistons’ frontcourt.

Two Players I Hate

Michael Redd, SF/SG, Milwaukee

Redd is almost a lock to play less than 65 games and is not going to the line or rebounding like he used to. He provides you with solid threes (2.2), but the points (21.2) and steals (1.1) are about all you get in addition to that.

Lamar Odom, SF/PF, Los Angeles Lakers

Odom is not only downgrading in life (he got rid of the awesome single life of an NBA athlete to marrying Klhoe Karashian), but his game isn’t going to improve at all on the court. The addition of Ron Artest will cut into Odom’s 29.7 minutes per game and Artest also rebounds more than Ariza did. Odom scored just 11.3 points with 8.2 rebounds per game last year, but did record 1.3 blocks so that is a nice asset to have.

Don’t Sleep On…

Wilson Chandler, SF/SG, New York

He saw a huge bump in minutes last year in Mike D’Antoni’s system. He showed that he can contribute in several important categories including threes (1.3), steals (0.9.) and blocks (0.9). He could provide your team with a nice balance in the later rounds of your draft.

Power Forwards

Two Players I Love

Luis Scola, PF/C, Houston

With Yao Ming out for the season, Scola is poised to have a very good season. Last year he averaged 12.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 0.8 steals in just 30.3 minutes per game. The minutes should increase significantly, which means he could eclipse 16 points and 9 rebounds while providing good percentages. He doesn’t give much in steals, but he showed that he can contribute offensively even without Yao on the court.

Boris Diaw, PF/SF, Charlotte

Diaw is not your typical big man. He contributes in assists (4.1), threes (0.9) and steals (0.8), while his big man numbers are solid as well (5.3 rebounds, 0.7 blocks). He does struggle from the charity stripe (68 FT%), but for a big man, that is a tolerable weakness.

Two Players I Hate

Carlos Boozer, PF/C, Utah

Who knows where Boozer will be by the end of the season, but I can tell you that he won’t be on any of my fantasy basketball rosters. It’s almost a given that he will be out of Utah before the trade deadline and he hasn’t shown a great ability to play through injuries. He only contributes in points (16.2), rebounds (10.4) and FG% (49%) and will probably share more minutes with emerging forward Paul Millsap. His situation is too unstable for me and you will have to draft him within the first five rounds, which isn’t worth it.

Zach Randolph, PF/C, Memphis

Randolph is a good bet to finish with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but other than that he doesn’t contribute much. He has an unimpressive 47 FG% for a big man and with rebounds and points plentiful in the later rounds I would rather spend my pick on someone with more upside than Randolph in round five.

Don’t Sleep On…

Paul Millsap, PF/SF, Utah

I spoke about my hate for Boozer, which means I like Millsap as a sleeper this year. He will definitely log more minutes than he did last year (30.1) which means he should improve on his points (13.5), rebounds (8.6) and blocks (1.0). He already provides you with a great FG% (53%) and while his FT% (69%) is low, that tends to be a trend with the big men in the NBA.

Centers

Two Players I Love

Al Horford, C/PF, Atlanta

He is part of a thin frontcourt in Atlanta so, unless he gets injured again, he should be in line for a better season in 2009-10. Last season he contributed with solid points (11.5), rebounds (9.3), blocks (1.4) and steals (0.8). He still has room to grow and has shown that he doesn’t back down when a challenge rises up.

Andrea Bargnani, C/PF, Toronto

Bargnani is a special big man who can contribute in points (15.4), blocks (1.2) and threes (1.5). What he lacks in FG% (45%) he makes up with FT% (83%). If he can improve on his rebounds (5.3) he will make that next leap and could possibly be a top 10 center by the end of the season.

Two Players I Hate

Greg Oden, C, Portland

When playing 61 games in a season is considered a surprise you can’t feel good about drafting him. Until he shows he can average near 30 minutes per game he will be nothing more than a decent weekly fill in. The potential for nine rebounds and two-plus blocks is a reality, but if he can’t stay on the court (3.9 fouls per game) then he will never reach it. Of course, if he is around in the 10th round he is worth taking a flier on because the reward greatly outweighs the risk.

Andrew Bogut, C, Milwaukee

Bogut regressed last season as he battled injuries for most of the season. He averaged just 11.7 points per game, but did have nice rebounds (10.3) and blocks (1.0). Much like Dwight Howard, he is horrendous from the free throw line (57 FT%) and he is not nearly as dominant in the other areas to help owners cope with that.

Don’t Sleep On…

Spencer Hawes, C/PF, Sacramento

Hawes is a nice sleeper because he contributes in so many categories. Last season he averaged 29.3 minutes per game and put up 11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 0.5 threes, 1.2 blocks and 0.6 steals. He is going to be a bigger part of the Kings’ offense this year and his second half last season (14 pts, 0.7 3′s, 8.3 reb) should be an indication of what we should expect this season.

© George for Sports of Boston, 2009. | Permalink | 10 comments
Filed under: Fantasy, Featured.

Pierce finished the night 39 points and nine rebounds to lead all scorers after playing 49 minutes of basketball on a rough knee. Kevin Garnett had another double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Ray Allen had 12 points and Brian Scalabrine finished with 11 points after starting his second game in a row due to an injured Kendrick Perkins. Leon Powe had 10 points off the bench.

Toronto played well for most of the night but let the Celtics get back into the game late, even though they were able to send it into overtime after a three pointer with one second left in the fourth by Andrea Bargnani. Bargnani, in the end, finished with 23 points. Chris Bosh had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Roko Ukic had 10 points off the bench.

The Celtics must be getting some of their confidence back after these two wins against the Raptors and will look to continue that against the Nets later this week. Kendrick Perkins should be back in action against New Jersey, but Tony Allen’s status and time of return is still up in the air. The Celtics look to keep the winning streak against New Jersey Wednesday night in Boston.

© Geoff for Sports of Boston, 2009. | Permalink | One comment
Filed under: Celtics, Featured, Top Story.