Roto Arcade - Fantasy

  • Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:27 pm EST

    Court Report: On the wagon?

    Carlos Boozer and Tony Parker were the injury casualties on Wednesday night, while Kris Humphries continues to produce.

    Carlos Boozer left Wednesday's game after straining his right calf on a simple in-bounds in the third quarter and did not return. He's set for a Thursday MRI that should give us a better idea of his condition. Given his history, both Boozer and Paul Millsap's fantasy owners should anxiously be awaiting news here ... Deron Williams won't play Friday, as he'll be away from the team because of a family funeral. Ronnie Price figures to get the start for the Jazz.

    Tony Parker, already dealing with plantar fasciitis, left Wednesday's game with a left ankle sprain. X-rays were negative, but he'll be re-evaluated by Spurs' doctors Thursday and is likely to miss at least a couple of games. George Hill, who was already starting at shooting guard, will take over at point guard during his absence and suddenly looks like a very good roster add (an upgrade from his previous designation of merely "good"). Roger Mason and Keith Bogans will also get extra backcourt run while Parker is out.

    Brandon Roy's hamstring injury will keep him out at least through the weekend. He'll be re-evaluated Monday and may be available for the Blazers' game that night ... Nicolas Batum is back for the Blazers and should serve to further muddy the fantasy depth chart. He played 27 minutes Wednesday, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting (2-of-2 threes) and adding four boards, one block, and one steal, while spending some time defending Deron Williams. The Blazers of course played with Brandon Roy in that game, so how many minutes Batum sees - and who they come at the expense of (Martell Webster?) - remains to be seen once Roy's hamstring is feeling good enough for him to return to the active roster. 

    The Clippers played most of their 103-87 loss to the Nets without Marcus Camby, who suffered a bruised rib while taking a charge in the first quarter. There's been no indication as of yet that the injury is serious. Craig Smith played 37 minutes in his absence (18 points, 8 boards) and would be the primary beneficiary if Camby were to miss any games moving forward. Over the past eight games, Smith has averaged 14.5 points on 61-percent shooting and 5.6 boards in 24 minutes, but he's not more than a three-category contributor (FG%, REB, PTS) even at his best.

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  • Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:46 pm EST

    Court Report: Percentage game

    Corey Maggette missed a lot of shots Tuesday, but his fantasy owners still don't have much to gripe about these days.

    I don't want to hear any whining from you Corey Maggette owners in the wake of his 3-for-22 performance against the Kings Tuesday. Sure, he made it tough for you to win FG% in your h2h matchup this week, but wasn't he largely responsible for winning you both FG% and FT% over the past five weeks? In 19 games between Dec. 12 and Jan. 22, Maggette shot 62 percent from the field (13.3 FGA) and 88 percent from the line (11.2 FTA) and was the cumulative leader in positive impact in both categories over that stretch. Amar'e Stoudemire (56% FG, 15.3 FGA) and Kevin Durant (87% FT, 10.2 FTA) had the second-best impacts in the respective categories during that time.

    Those of you that added Anthony Tolliver in recent days were surely less than enthused to see Vladimir Radmanovic return Tuesday, as he was also back in the starting lineup. He played just seven minutes in a close game, however, while Tolliver played 28 minutes and was fourth on the team with 11 field goal attempts. That he made only two is another matter... This quote from VladRad regarding his Achilles should give Tolliver owners a bit of pause before sending him back to waivers:

    "It's never going to be 100 percent healthy, but I hope to keep the pain at a point that I can play with it."

    Tolliver has launched 21 threes over the past five games, but made just two. Obviously something has got to give there, and his resume suggests that some of them are going to start falling. And what he has going for him over VladRad is some athleticism, that he likes to rebound, and isn't a total loss on defense. I'm going to stay the course here for at least a few more days and see if Tolliver keeps getting the opportunities and can find his range.

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  • Anyone can pick Phil Mickelson to win at Torrey Pines, or Robert Allenby, or Ernie Els, or Hunter Mahan. My goal in this weekly piece is to give you five possible selections you might not be thinking about. Let's head down San Diego way and see what's going on with this week's Farmers Insurance Open.

    Steve Marino: Perhaps I'm using a liberal definition of sleeper by tabbing Marino here, but he's yet to win on tour and he's not among the Top 20 favorites this week, so that's good enough for me. His Torrey Pines run last year was done in by an opening-round 78, but he grabbed two solid checks in the previous years (T23, T20). There isn't an obvious weakness in Marino's game - other than the empty mantle, I suppose - and that's the type of versatility that will serve you well at this week's challenge. He's one of the Top 5 players on tour without a victory, that's for sure (say howdy to Tim Clark when this infamous club meets up).

    Nathan Green: He made it to a playoff when they came to Torrey Pines in 2006 and don't overlook Green's T11 check from 2008. He's generally known as a better scrambler than ball striker, and you certainly need a creative mind to work your way about the two tracks here.

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  • You know the rules. Assume a new draft that starts tonight. Yahoo default settings. What's happened to this point is an audition, but not how we're grading them – this is all about what will happen the rest of the way.

    Let's head to the crease.

    1. Martin Brodeur
    2. Ryan Miller
    3. Roberto Luongo
    4. Evgeni Nabokov
    5. Henrik Lundqvist
    6. Miikka Kiprusoff
    7. Craig Anderson
    8. Ilya Bryzgalov
    9. Jimmy Howard
    10. Tim Thomas
    11. Niklas Backstrom
    12. Tomas Vokoun

    Comments: Kiprusoff hasn't played well in January, but it's hard to get past where his seasonal numbers are. … Nabokov's stats have a lot to do with the play in front of him, but they don't ask how, they ask how many? … Howard's effectively thrown Chris Osgood out of the way for the balance of the year, barring an injury.

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  • Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:09 pm EST

    Court Report: Week 14 Dashboard

    Setting the stage for Week 14 of the fantasy basketball season.

    Schedule Breakdown

    Four-game teams: ATL, BOS, CHA, CLE, DEN, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MON, NOR, NYK, ORL, PHI, PHO, POR, SAS

    Three-game teams: CHI, DAL, DET, MIL, NJN, OKC, SAC, TOR, UTH, WAS

    Also see: Basketball Monster's ease rankings | Rotowire's value meter

    Pickups/Plug-ins – Players owned in fewer than 40% of Yahoo! leagues

    Goran Dragic - Leandro Barbosa's wrist surgery [see below] presents Dragic with a great opportunity for more consistent playing time at both guard positions for the Suns. Case-in-point: Saturday's win over the Warriors, during which he scored 20 points and added three treys, four steals, and a block in 26 minutes. While the matchup clearly couldn't have been better, his production was still part of a trend. In games where he's seen at least 20 minutes of action (15), Dragic has averaged 11.1 points, 1.7 threes, 3.1 boards, 3.5 assists, 2.3 turnovers, and 1 steal. Jason Richardson returned to the starting lineup Saturday, but played 27 minutes and is averaging a career-low 30 on the season. Factor in Jared Dudley's continued shooting woes (34% FG, 29% 3PT in January), and Dragic's prospects improve that much further. Week 14: NOR, UTH, @HOU, @DAL

    Matt Barnes - Stan Van Gundy couldn't be happier with the way that Barnes has performed as a starter, although he said "you never know" when it comes to adjusting player roles over the season's second half. Barnes should be getting run in most formats while he is starting - in 13 January games, he's averaged 13 points on 53-percent shooting, 1.4 threes, 7.3 boards, and 1.3 steals-plus-blocks in 31 minutes. Week 14: @MEM, BOS, ATL, @DET

    Brandon Rush - Rush is back in the Pacers' starting five and has averaged 12.7 points on 63-percent shooting, 2 threes, 3.8 boards, 2 assists, 0.5 turnovers, and 1.2 steals-plus-blocks in 30 minutes over the past six games. He's in a great position to succeed and the team would like nothing more than for him to take ownership of the shooting guard position. His horrific start to the season turned off a lot of fantasy owners, but he's got plenty of time left to impact the fantasy season. Week 14: @PHI, LAL, CLE, @TOR

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  • Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:15 pm EST

    The Joe Mauer dilemma

    http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_fantasy_experts__23/ept_sports_fantasy_experts-183956305-1264207205.jpg?ymll9jCDdhKW5fwD

    Joe Mauer is about to get a ludicrously large payday – presumably in the $20 million per year range – but that fact really isn't meaningful for any of us in the fantasy community (unless you're actively trying to sell him something). Here, we care primarily about the imaginary payday Mauer is about to receive.

    If your intention is to purchase his services in 2010, then you'll need to commit a substantial percentage of your budget. In the Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide we set Mauer's mixed league suggested retail price at $42. That number is probably insane, yet surprisingly easy to justify. Mauer enhanced his Hall of Fame resume with several bullet-points last year – MVP award (his first), Gold Glove (second), batting title (third), Silver Slugger (third) – while massively out-producing the standard-issue fantasy catcher. He led all players at his position in runs (94), homers (28) and, obviously, batting average (.365).

    At the risk of appearing too self-referential, we'll briefly direct your attention back to this feature from last season, in which we discussed expected performance from each fantasy roster position based on the prior year's data. In 2008, the top 15 catchers averaged 56 runs scored, 14 home runs, 64 RBIs and two stolen bases while collectively hitting .265. Those were the most useful players at the position according to end-of-season Yahoo! ranks. In 2009, Mauer exceeded those totals by 38 runs, 14 homers, 32 RBIs, two steals and 100 points of batting average. For comparison's sake, Albert Pujols exceeded the average '08 performance of the ownable first basemen by 34 runs, 17 homers, 28 RBIs, 12 steals and 40 points of batting average.

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  • Sat Jan 23, 2010 3:24 am EST

    Court Report: Got Delonte?

    Mo Williams and Brandon Roy injuries take center stage, while George Hill and Brandon Rush appear on more radars.

    Mo Williams will miss four to six weeks with a left shoulder strain, suffered Tuesday against the Raptors. He'll be re-evaluated in two weeks, at which point we should have a more precise timeframe for his return. Fantasy owners have little choice but to carry dead weight while Williams is out – on the far end of that expected down time, he'll be back the first week of March, with six weeks of games yet to play. If you are in danger of falling out of contention, then you can throw him on our trade block and see what kinds of offers come in.

    Delonte West is the obvious beneficiary of excess playing time. He started Thursday's game and played 43 minutes … and broke his left (shooting) ring finger. West will not play Saturday (OKC) and, although the damage is not severe, it's not yet known if he'll need more games off. At this point he's at least questionable for Monday's game (@MIA). Daniel Gibson will start for as long as West is out and warrants a deep-league add for those with a roster spot in play, as his role was set to increase with Williams out anyway. Gibson has made 48 percent of his threes this season and has averaged 11.1 points, 2.2 threes, 2.6 assists, and 0.7 steals in 42 career starts. Despite his injury, West should get a serious look in most formats. His brand of across-the-board potential doesn't come along every day – in 221 career starts, he's averaged 11.8 points, 1.2 threes, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks. At the very least, make sure he's on your roster while his injury status is resolved.

    Brandon Roy's strained right hammy is getting the best treatment available. He underwent a cutting-edge, non-surgical technique Friday where platelet rich plasma is injected into the hamstring in the hopes that it stops bleeding and accelerates the healing process. The hope is that he can return to the active roster within seven to 10 days, and current game targets are Jan. 29 and Feb. 1. Andre Miller (47 minutes, 28 points, 8 boards, 8 assists Friday), Jerryd Bayless (21 minutes, 12 points, 4 assists), Martell Webster (33 minutes, 19 points, 2 threes), Steve Blake (21 minutes, 5 points), and Rudy Fernandez (35 minutes, 6 points, 2 threes) will all continue to share the minutes and usage for as long as Roy remains out. 

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  • Tonight we take an audit of every fantasy-viable center skating in North America. The stats to this point are merely an audition; this list is what I'd use for a new draft that starts right now. Bring your intelligent disagreement to the comments, we'll fleece it out together. (Anyone carrying center eligibility in the Yahoo! game was considered for this exercise, and Y! default scoring is assumed.)

    1. Sidney Crosby
    2. Henrik Sedin
    3. Evgeni Malkin
    4. Patrick Marleau
    5. Nicklas Backstrom
    6. Jeff Carter
    7. Joe Thornton
    8. Mike Richards
    9. Eric Staal
    10. Ryan Getzlaf
    11. Pavel Datsyuk
    12. Tim Connolly
    13. Jonathan Toews
    14. Steven Stamkos
    15. Anze Kopitar
    16. Henrik Zetterberg

    Comments: No knife fights over the guys at the 2-4 slots, you could rank them in any order and it wouldn't look out of place. Marleau probably won't be in this area next year but sometimes you have to ride the wave of a career year and not question it. … I was tempted to go even lower on the Red Wings, especially Zetterberg. Not that this team can't rally now that key people are healthy, but Zetterberg for the last year and a half has been just another really good offensive player, not quite a dominant one. …The Buffalo sporting community could use a break (sorry about Chan Gailey). With that in mind, here's hoping Connolly can stay healthy and continue his growth into stardom. … It's a hell of a time to be a Chicago hockey fan; set their Stanley Cup over/under for the new decade at 1.5.

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  • We've seen plenty of New York vs. Philadelphia throwdowns over the years and there's another heavyweight bout set to go in 2010: the battle for first-base supremacy. If you find yourself in need of some corner clout in the late-first or early-second round, who you gonna call?

    Yahoo! staffers Brad Evans and Scott Pianowski love a good debate and were happy to take up the case in around 250 words or less. Settle in for opening statements, then register your vote and comments at the bottom of the piece. We'll figure this out together.

    Big Noise opens: Mark Teixeira is a true consistency king. He's tallied more consecutive top-flight seasons than the creepy Burger King has trespassing violations. Despite suiting up for four different clubs over the past three years, he's compiled at least a .290 BA, 30 homers and 105 RBI each season. Even after a horrific April (.200 BA, 3 HR, 10 RBI) – sans A-Rod – he managed to rack a.292-39-122-103 line in his first year in the Bronx, equal to the 18th-most valuable overall output according to Baseball Monster. With Mr. Vain presumably around full-season, Teixeira, who is a notorious slow starter (.252 career April BA), may rocket out of the gates, possibly leading to a slight increase in homers and RBI.

    In terms of power production, Ryan Howard is the Godzilla of first basemen. But like the fire-breathing film star, he's not completely invincible. Over the past three seasons, his success rate against southpaws has fallen off precipitously (6 HR in 222 at-bats in '09). If that trend continues a decline in homers, though minor, could be ahead. Frankly, the disparity in long-balls between the Philly smasher and Teixeira could be marginal. However, based on Howard's downturn in walks percentage and grotesque contact yields (67.1 CT% in '09), the difference in BA will likely be 30-40 points wide.

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  • Let's be honest and up front this week, amigos – we're getting quantity over quality at the 2010 Bob Hope Classic. No Top 10 players are on the grounds, no major names. Sure, Justin Leonard is a pleasant chap, and Chad Campbell looks primed for a big year, and this could be the spot for Tim Clark to break through. There's always some reason to watch. But at the end of the day, we're looking at a five-day birdie fest without a ton of curb appeal.

    Here's hoping the weather plays nice – the early forecasts are ominous – and let's see if we can pick some fantasy sleepers out of the hat.

    Ben Crane: His reputation for slow play has tended to obscure the bigger story here  – Crane has some game. He's already bagged a couple of wins on tour and consider his earning rank over his eight-year career: 48, 63, 184 (injured), 58, 19, 76, 50, 71. He's never missed a check in seven visits to the Bob Hope, including a fifth-place run in 2004 and a 12-place finish two years back. Fear the turtle.

    Charley Hoffman: I'm using a very broad definition for sleeper with Hoffman because he's somewhere in the Top 15-20 range with the oddsmakers this week. If you're in a one-and-done pool it might be a good time to dial up the Concrete Blonde; he captured the Bob Hope Classic in his 2007 debut and he's followed that up nicely the last two seasons (T8, T19).

    Mathew Goggin: I feel like I've been chasing this one for a while, a no-win player who's overdue for a victory. Goggin has four checks in five stops at The Hope, including a T39 two years back and a T19 last year. He knows how to do the five-day crawl.

    Fredrik Jacobson: The Swede grabbed a T15 check the last time he made this stop, and he's managed to collect around $4 million stateside the last three seasons despite a modest schedule over here. Jacobson is four years away from his 40th birthday – I have a hunch we'll see his career season show up sometime in the first half of the decade.

    Bill Haas: He's yet to make a deep run through five visits to the Bob Hope but he's at least comfortable with the format and the pace of play (finishes of 25, 16, 27, 19, 34). You're getting a solid pedigree here, of course – Jay Haas was an established touring pro for years – and the younger Haas quietly worked his way into the Top 100 last year. Haas will need straighter driving elsewhere on tour to be a factor – it's probably the only notable weakness in his game right now – but this week at the Hope, feel free to grip it and rip it.

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Andy Behrens

Roto Arcade is a fantasy sports blog edited by Andy Behrens. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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