A look ahead to Week 9 of the fantasy basketball season.
Schedule Breakdown
Four-game teams: CLE, HOU, IND, LAC, PHO, SAS
Three-game teams: ATL, BOS, CHI, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, LAL, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, ORL, POR, SAC, UTH, WAS
Two-game teams: CHA, MEM, NJN, NOR, PHI, TOR
Also see: Basketball Monster’s ease rankings and Rotowire’s value meter
Pickups/Plug-ins – players owned in less than 40% of Yahoo! leagues
• Omri Casspi – Casspi has averaged 18 points, 1.3 threes, 86-percent
foul shooting, 3.7 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal in 34 minutes in three
games since joining the Kings’ starting lineup. The move should stick,
giving Casspi some long-term potential – looking ahead, I’d anticipate
Andres Nocioni hitting the bench once Kevin Martin makes his eventual
return. Week 9: @CHI, CLE, LAL
• Marreese Speights – Speights has picked up right where he left off,
and then some. In three games since returning from a partially torn
MCL, he’s averaged 19.7 points on 47-percent shooting and 7.7 boards in
27 minutes. While it’s hard to envision consistency for any of Eddie
Jordan’s bigs, Speights’ numbers should continue to be solid overall. Week 9: @WAS, @UTH
• Joel Przybilla – need a center? Przybilla has double-digit rebounds in five straight games and has averages of 5.7 points on 57-percent shooting, 9.8 boards, and 2.2 blocks over the past six games. Week 9: @DAL, @SAS, DEN
• C.J. Watson – Watson continues to play plenty for the short-handed
Warriors, and he’s produced averages of 12.5 points on 51-percent
shooting, 1.1 threes, 4 boards, 3.1 assists, 1.3 turnovers, and 2
steals over the past 11 games. Week 9: @MEM, @NOR, PHO
• Jarrett Jack – Jack has been up and down as the starter but solid overall (12 points, 51% FG, 0.6 threes, 3.9 boards, 5.7 assists, 3 turnovers, 1.3 steals) and Jose Calderon remains out. The downside here is that the Raptors only play twice in Week 9 (@DET, DET).
• DeJuan Blair – Matt Bonner’s broken hand will keep him out for at least a month,
meaning an expanded role for Blair in the interim, who saw 20 minutes
of playing time himself for just the second time in a month Saturday (8
boards, 1 steal). Blair’s per-25 minute averages on the season include
10.7 points, 9.3 boards, 0.6 steals, and 1.6 steals-plus-blocks. Week 9: LAC, POR, @MIL, @NYK
• Jerryd Bayless – Bayless has been earning more playing time for the short-handed Blazers, setting season-highs in minutes in three consecutive games. His production is almost completely limited to offense, but the offense should be there as long as the minutes are. In the five games where he’s seen at least 20 minutes of playing time, he’s averaged 16 points on 47-percent shooting, 0.4 threes, and 8.6 free throw attempts. Week 9: @DAL, @SAS, DEN
• Dorell Wright – Quentin Richardson’s injury gave Wright an opportunity to rejoin the Heat rotation, and he’s played well enough in recent games to keep a solid role now that Richardson has returned. Over the past five games, Wright has averaged 13.2 points on 58-percent shooting, 1 three, 5 boards, 2.2 assists, 0.4 turnovers, and 1.4 steals-plus-blocks, and Q-Rich’s availability is always tenuous at best. Week 9: UTH, @NYK, IND
Status Updates
• Leandro Barbosa – Barbosa will step up his practice activities Sunday with the hopes of fully practicing with the team Wednesday and then returning to the active roster Friday.
• Andris Biedrins – Biedrins has begun light workouts and may fully practice with the team in advance of their back-to-backs on Tuesday/Wednesday. The San Francisco Chronicle’s beat reporter goes as far as to speculate that Biedrins "could return" for the two-game road trip, but that may be overly-optimistic.
• Chauncey Billups – Billups is not expected to be in the lineup Sunday, instead giving his injured groin a few extra days to heal before returning on Wednesday.
• Jose Calderon – The Raptors have yet to provide any official update on Calderon’s hip flexor, so the best I can offer is speculation from the Toronto Star‘s Raptors beat reporter:
"No one’s got a timetable but if I had to guess, I’d say the 30th here would be when we see him back. Just a guess though."
• Chris Douglas-Roberts – CDR suffered a grade 1 ankle sprain Saturday and his status for Wednesday’s game is up in the air at this point.
• Rudy Fernandez – Rudy underwent a microdiscectomy on December 8 and is expected to be sidelined until at least mid-January.
• Ryan Gomes
– Gomes has yet to return to practice and is probably a week or more away from playing because of a high ankle sprain.
• Ben Gordon – Gordon’s sprained ankle has progressed to the point that he will be a game-time decision Sunday.
• Danny Granger – Granger’s torn right plantar fascia is expected to keep him sidelined until sometime in mid-January.
• Blake Griffin – Griffin remains sidelined by a stress fracture on his left kneecap and isn’t expected to return until sometime after January 1. He’ll undergo a series of tests sometime in the coming days, and a more exact timeline should emerge after they take place.
• Richard Hamilton – Hamilton will miss his third straight game Sunday due to a strained right hamstring, and is considered day-to-day.
• Allen Iverson
– AI has missed the past two games because of a collection of issues (left knee arthritis, right leg stress reaction, left shoulder bruise), and he’s also scheduled to sit out Philly’s game on Tuesday. According to Eddie Jordan, he "might" be back in the lineup on Saturday.
• Yi Jianlian – barring another unforeseen circumstance, Yi is set to rejoin the Nets at practice Monday and is likely to be on the team’s active roster Wednesday.
• Carl Landry – Landry underwent nearly five hours of dental procedures Saturday to repair damage to five teeth, suffered when he collided with Dirk Nowitzki during Friday’s game. Rick Adelman said that doctors thought "by next week he should be fine," but go on the assumption that he’ll be a game-time decision Tuesday.
• Kevin Martin – Martin had surgery on his broken left wrist on November 9 and is expected to return sometime in mid-January.
• Mike Miller
– Miller is progressing and expected to resume running this week.
• Jameer Nelson – Nelson is set to go through his first full practice Sunday, and the team’s medical staff has designated Wednesday’s game as the earliest possible return to the active roster.
• Dirk Nowitzki – Dirkdid not practice Saturday and is questionable for Sunday’s game in the wake of his elbow-to-mouth collision with Carl Landry.
• Tayshaun Prince – Prince remains, in a word, out, and there continues to be a lack of substantive updates in terms of his specific level of readiness.
• Tyrus Thomas
– Thomas will participate in a full-contact practice Sunday and, if he has no setbacks, the team is targeting Saturday’s matchup with the Hornets as a possible return date.
• Dwyane Wade – Add back spasms to Wade’s list of recent ailments, but he’s not expected to miss any game action due to the injury, just like with the others.
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