{"id":356690,"date":"2010-02-24T03:57:42","date_gmt":"2010-02-24T08:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,yhoo:20050301:fantasy,article,yhoo-ept_sports_fantasy_experts-223724:1"},"modified":"2010-02-24T03:57:42","modified_gmt":"2010-02-24T08:57:42","slug":"court-report-hello-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/356690","title":{"rendered":"Court Report: Hello, Goodbye"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allen Iverson’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> departure from the 76ers should mean good things for Louis Williams’<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> fantasy owners. <\/em><\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Welcome back, Louis Williams! He got the start Tuesday with
\nAllen Iverson (family) and Willie Green<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> (shoulder) out of the lineup
\nand went off to the tune of 26 points, five threes, 10 boards, 7
\nassists, and three turnovers in 40 minutes of 110-102 win over the
\nWarriors. It seems quite possible that even Eddie Jordan will recognize
\nthis as a sign that Williams is the rightful owner of an everyday
\nstarting spot. All<\/a> signs<\/a> point<\/a> to Iverson having played his last game of the current season. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Corey Maggette’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> hamstring injury will keep him out until at least the second week of March and maybe much more<\/a>.
\nHe underwent the same platelet-rich plasma treatment that Brandon Roy<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span>
\ndid for his hammy, and it’s doubtful that anyone will push the issue in
\nterms of a return this season if he shows anything less than
\nsignificant progress in the interim. This
\nnews is a boon for Anthony Morrow<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> who has averaged 21.2 points on
\n49-percent shooting, 3 treys, 6.3 boards, 3.2 assists, and 2.3
\nturnovers while starting the past six games. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Andris
\nBiedrins<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Ronny Turiaf<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> combined for zero points and zero blocks in
\n32 minutes in the loss to the 76ers. Biedrins playing just nine minutes
\nand was benched by Don Nelson<\/a>
\nfor not showing "any life" while he was on the court. In five games
\nsince the All-Star break, Biedrins has averaged 2 points on 42-percent
\nshooting, 8 boards, 1 steal, and 0.8 blocks in 22 minutes. Keep an eye
\non this situation – we could see Turiaf or even Chris Hunter<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> join the
\nstarting five, as Biedrins is clearly on Nelson’s bad side. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

•<\/strong> There’s a decent chance that Marcus Thornton’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> 37 points in 31 minutes Tuesday will be enough to push him back into the starting five. It seems even more likely when you factor in Morris Peterson’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> two points on 1-of-5 shooting … Another big night from Darren Collison<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> (22 points, 4 boards, 10 assists, 6 turnovers, 1 steal), pushing his averages in his past 11 starts to 20.5 points on 48-percent shooting, 0.9 threes, 85-percent foul shooting, 4.5 boards, 9.7 assists, 5 turnovers, and 1.8 steals in 42 minutes.  <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Antawn Jamison’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> first start for the Cavs was a success by any measure (37 minutes, 18 points, 7-of-14 FG, 1 three, 6 boards, 2 steals) and a good sign for all involved parties. He’ll have to share the usage even more once Mo Williams<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> (2-of-9 FG) gets back to 100 percent, but Jamison should still be a fantasy contributor of some consequence for the Cavs. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> The Timberwolves beat the Heat 91-88 without any one standout performance, but Dorell Wright<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> was huge off the bench in the loss. He scored 26 points in his 30 minutes, adding six threes, seven boards, two steals, and three blocks. Wright is still only 24 years old – the same age as Darko Milicic<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> – but the Heat are in "win right now" mode and have deferred minutes to veteran Quentin Richardson<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> While a performance like this is certainly notable, it’s only actionable if the Heat also start thinking about demoting Q-Rich. <\/p>\n

• <\/strong>Dwayne Wade was able to ditch his walking boot Monday, but he’ll need to go through a practice or two<\/a>
\nbefore he’ll think about returning to the court. With the Heat off
\nuntil Friday, he’ll get the chance, but he’s still dealing with
\nsoreness and had yet to resume running as of Tuesday. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> So how do you<\/em> see the Tracy McGrady<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> story playing out
\nfor the rest of the season? What we’ve got thus far: they hype around
\nhis 32-minute debut pushed it to mythic proportions<\/a>, he was much less effective and limped off the floor<\/a>
\nin his second game, and he labored through his third game (the second
\nof a back-to-back) and finished with six points on 3-of-8 shooting. My guess is that we get sporadic production and <\/em>appearances the rest of the way … Danilo Gallinari<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> scored fewer than 10 points (6) for the fourth straight game, and I’ll go as far as to say that his fantasy impact will be directly tied to Tracy McGrady’s availability. With T-Mac around, he’s drawing tougher assignments as the power forward on defense and seeing fewer looks on offense. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> If you’ve been waiting to pick up Sergio Rodriguez<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> now mught
\nbe a good time to do it. He played 38 minutes Tuesday (18 points, 3
\ntreys, 5 boards, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, 1 block) while Chris
\nDuhon<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> was saddled with a DNP-CD. The potential for inconsistency
\nremains, but so does some pretty serious upside, and the playing time
\ndoesn’t appear likely to be an issue.<\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Paul Pierce<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> sat out Tuesday’s game in the hopes that a few days off<\/a> would help get his sprained right thumb closer to 100 percent, but he was also feeling a bit under the weather<\/a>. Marquis Daniels<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> got the start and scored 14 points in his absence … Nate Robinson’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> Celtics debut was fairly anti-climactic (16 minutes, 4 points) and I have a tough time seeing him being much of a factor as long as Ray Allen<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> remains healthy. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Brandon Roy’s numbers were a sight for sore eyes (37 minutes, 28 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 0 turnovers), and the fact that he went to the line 13 times is a great sign that he’s getting strength back in his hamstring. Sadly, the Blazers lost Marcus Camby<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> to an ankle sprain after just five minutes. X-rays were negative, but he called himself doubtful<\/a> for Wednesday … As a team, the Blazers shot 54 percent and had 23 assists against just three turnovers<\/a> against the Nets. Portland’s starters combined for zero turnovers in 149 minutes. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Kobe Bryant<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> returned to the Lakers’ lineup in emphatic fashion Tuesday, scoring 32 points and adding three treys, seven boards, six assists, two turnovers, three steals, and two blocks in 40 minutes of the 99-98 win over the Grizzlies. And that’s all I have to say about that.<\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Goran Dragic<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> was excellent (40 minutes, 16 points, 2 threes, 4 boards, 10 assists, 6 turnovers) in his spot start for Steve Nash<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> who missed the game to rest<\/a> abdominal and back injuries … The Suns went small in their matchup with the Thunder, and Robin Lopez’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> line is bound to suffer in that scenario (18 minutes, 2 points, 2 boards). As a starter overall (17 G), he’s been rosterable but not overly-productive (12.3 points, 61-percent shooting, 6 boards, 1 block). <\/p>\n

• <\/strong>Russell Westbrook<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> has been trending upward lately. His double-double Tuesday (21 points, 10 assists) was his fifth in seven games, and over the past 12 games he’s averaged 19.3 points on 48-percent shooting, 5.6 boards, 8.8 assists, 2.6 turnovers, and 2 steals. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Just so you know, the Kings’ constant lineup changes and erratic player roles have been wearing on the players<\/a>, too. It’s in everyone’s best interests that Paul Westphal make some decisions and actually stick with them for more than a game or two. <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Josh Howard<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> has suffered a torn ACL in his left knee<\/a>
\nand will miss the rest of the season. Howard’s hugely disappointing
\ncampagin ends with a per-game rank of 205th, thanks to averages that
\nincluded 12.7 points on 41-percent shooting, 0.7 threes, 3.6 boards,
\nand 0.7 steals in 26 minutes. Al Thornton<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> will step in as the starting
\nsmall forward for the Wizards moving forward, and should be a decent
\nsource of points with little in the way of supporting stats.
\nDeep-leaguers should give James Singleton<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> a look, as he’s got some
\nmulti-cat potential and will back up both forward spots – in four games
\nsince joining the Wizards, he’s averaged 7 points, 8 boards, 0.8
\nsteals, and 1.3 blocks in 22 minutes.  <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Chris Bosh<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> (ankle) did not practice again Tuesday and it would be a surprise<\/a> if he were to play Wednesday.  <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Danny Granger<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> missed the Pacers’ game Monday because of a "serious" family situation<\/a>
\nand it’s unknown when he will return to the team. Mike Dunleavy<\/a> got the
\nstart for Granger and scored eight points on 3-of-9 shooting in 26
\nminutes.  <\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Joakim Noah<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> doesn’t think his foot will be 100 percent for the rest of the season<\/a>, and he’s going to see his minutes limited for at least the near future.<\/p>\n

\n

"They don’t want to push it too much right now and I have to sit for
\nanother three or four weeks. They want me to be ready for when it
\nreally counts." <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This
\nisn’t your cue to drop Noah – they will gradually work him back into
\nhis regular role if his foot reacts well. But all parties involved do
\nwant to be cautious in how quickly they bring him along, so fantasy
\nowners are going to have to be patient… for now. And this is <\/em>your cue to go pick up Taj Gibson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> if it’s an option.<\/p>\n

•<\/strong> Trevor Ariza’s<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> severe left hip pointer will keep him out for the rest of the week<\/a>,
\nat which point he’ll be re-evaluated. He first suffered the injury on
\nFebruary 6, it’s stuck with him since, and he aggravated it on
\nSaturday. Kevin Martin<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> will replace Ariza in the starting lineup, and
\nChase Budinger<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> should see a few more minutes as a reserve. Budinger has
\nscored in double figures in five straight games, averaging 12.2 points
\non 49-percent shooting, 2 threes, and 4.2 boards in 26 minutes during
\nthat stretch. <\/p>\n

—<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allen Iverson’s(notes) departure from the 76ers should mean good things for Louis Williams’(notes) fantasy owners. • Welcome back, Louis Williams! He got the start Tuesday with Allen Iverson (family) and Willie Green(notes) (shoulder) out of the lineup and went off to the tune of 26 points, five threes, 10 boards, 7 assists, and three turnovers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}