Troy Williamson underwent a MRI on his concussed head and is listed as questionable for Monday night’s game. Avoid starting him if at all possible…Laveranues Coles dressed for practice but didn’t go on Friday, which is a little worrisome. Keep your eye on the Jets’ inactives Sunday morning…LaMont Jordan returned to practice and “looked good” according to Art Shell. The Raiders play the Steelers, so if you have a good option besides Jordan, use it…Ben Roetlisberger is likely to start this week, but keep an eye on the Steelers’ inactives and be prepared to start Charlie Batch in his place…Carnell Williams will continue to come out of the games on third down, with Michael Pittman and Mike Alstott on the field in obvious passing situations…Byron Leftwich and Jack Del Rio are apparently not speaking to each other. Even though Leftwich has already been declared out for this game, keep an eye on this situation…Greg Jennings is listed as doubtful so don’t count on him this week…Kellen Winslow practiced all week and should play against the Jets…Steve McNair was upgraded to probable and should play against the Saints tomorrow…After much speculation, the Bengals did activate Chris Henry and he should resume his role as the team’s third WR…Ahman Green is listed as probable and is a solid play against the Cardinals…Larry Fitzgerald is listed as doubtful and will probably not play against Green Bay…Brian Westbrook, Donte Stallworth and L.J. Smith practiced and should play Sunday…Rudi Johnson practiced on Friday and is expected to play against the Falcons, who have been susceptible to the run the last couple weeks with injuries to their defense.
Author: John Paulsen (Page 814 of 937)
With the NBA season right around the corner, Bullz-Eye.com breaks down the league, ranking each team division-by-division. Who are the likely starters? Who were the key additions and losses for each franchise this offseason? What questions does each team face as the season approaches? We’ve got it all right here, along with a look at a few impact rookies, fantasy hoops tiered rankings and some of the best and worst basketball movies of all time.
MIAMI HEAT
2005-06 RECORD: 52-30 (1st in Southeast, 2nd in Eastern Conference)
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG – Jason Williams, SG – Dwyane Wade, SF – Antoine Walker, PF – Udonis Haslem, C – Shaquille O’Neal
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: Alonzo Mourning, James Posey, Gary Payton
KEY ADDITIONS: The Heat didn’t make any major moves this offseason, going with the philosophy that if this group of players was good enough to win the title last year, then it’s good enough to win it this year. With Jason Williams coming off knee surgery and Gary Payton’s continuing decline, it’s not clear why the team didn’t go after one of the point guards (Marcus Banks, Speedy Claxton) that was available for the mid-level exception. Banks would have been an especially good fit with his accurate FG% and 3PT%, and all teams, no matter how successful, can use some new blood to keep things fresh.
KEY LOSSES: Derek Anderson wasn’t getting any playing time, so the Heat bought out his contract so he could try to find minutes elsewhere.
THE BIG QUESTION: Will the Heat hit the wall?
There weren’t too many believers in Pat Riley when he brought in Jason Williams, Gary Payton and Antoine Walker last summer, but everything worked out well in the end. The biggest challenge the Heat face this year is age. They only have two players – Wade and Haslem – that are in their prime, while the rest of the main rotation is over 30. When age hits, it usually hits fast, so Riley will have to walk the fine line between playing his vets enough to win enough games in the regular season while limiting their minutes to keep them fresh for the postseason.
2006-07 OUTLOOK: Payton is going to start at the point until Williams is healthy enough to take over. That, coupled with the games that Shaq will no doubt miss to various injuries – he’s played more than 67 games only once in the last five seasons – is going to make it difficult for the Heat to earn home-court advantage in the playoffs. Still, it doesn’t look like any of the other teams in the Southeast are ready to dethrone the champs, and with Wade and Shaq, the Heat have as good of a chance as anyone in the East to advance to the Finals. Keep an eye on Wade’s injured hand – if he shuts it down for any period of time, the team falls to the middle of the pack talent-wise, assuming O’Neal is playing, of course. If they’re both out, the Heat are in trouble.
The Cardinals lead the Tigers 3-1 in the World Series, and have a chance to clinch tonight. It’s a little quiet in college football this weekend as most of the top teams play conference pushovers, but the Oklahoma/Missouri matchup and the Georgia/Florida tilt, which is the BE College Game of the Week, should both be barnburners. There are several good NFL matchups this weekend, including the Colts/Broncos battle, which is the BE NFL Game of the Week.
World Series
Fri, 8:27 PM: Detroit @ St. Louis – FOX
Sat, 7:30 PM: St. Louis @ Detroit – FOX (if necessary)
Sun, 7:30 PM: St. Louis @ Detroit – FOX (if necessary)
NFL
Sun, 1 PM: Atlanta @ Cincinnati – FOX
Sun, 1 PM: Baltimore @ New Orleans – CBS
Sun, 4:05 PM: St. Louis @ San Diego – FOX
Sun, 4:15 PM: Indianapolis @ Denver – CBS
Sun, 8:15 PM: Dallas @ Carolina – NBC
Mon, 8:30 PM: New England @ Minnesota – ESPN
College Football
Sat, 12 PM: (19) Oklahoma @ (23) Missouri – ABC
Sat, 3:30 PM: Georgia @ (9) Florida – CBS
Sat, 3:30 PM: Miami @ (21) Georgia Tech – ABC
Sat, 7:45 PM: (8) Tennessee @ South Carolina – local
Each week in the Pregame, I’ll provide a few players to start and a few to bench. These recommendations are based on that player’s strength of schedule (SOS) for that particular week or that player’s specific situation.
I’m a strong advocate of always starting your studs, so I won’t be telling you about LaDainian Tomlinson’s tough matchup or how Peyton Manning and company will light it up against a bad defense. Anyone can make those calls. I’ll be discussing marginal fantasy starters – guys that can start for you, but only under certain circumstances.
START
A number of marginal starting QBs have good matchups this week. MATT LEINART, REX GROSSMAN, CHARLIE FRYE, TONY ROMO, DAMON HUARD and JAKE PLUMMER are all decent starts…TRAVIS HENRY and WALI LUNDY face each other this Sunday, and both guys are good starts even if they aren’t completely dependable…THOMAS JONES and REUBEN DROUGHNS also have good matchups, while TATUM BELL is a must-start this week…EDDIE KENNISON and BRAYLON EDWARDS have nice matchups against the Seahawks and Jets, respectively. Both teams have had trouble against the pass in recent weeks.
BENCH
BEN ROETHLISBERGER, ALEX SMITH and SENECA WALLACE have tough matchups against the Raiders, Bears and Chiefs respectively. Of those three, Big Ben probably has the best chance of having a decent game, though the other two could throw for a lot of yards in garbage time…It might be a good week to sit DEUCE MCALLISTER and REGGIE BUSH down. They’ve been splitting carries and they face a very tough Ravens defense this week…The entire 49ers offense should have a tough go, so FRANK GORE and ANTONIO BRYANT should be benched if you have another good option…Likewise, MARQUES COLSTON and JOE HORN should find the going tough against the Ravens.
Be sure to check back on Saturday for a complete injury update. In the meantime, feel free to post your questions on our Fantasy Q & A.
We’re about halfway through the fantasy football regular season, which means that teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack.
If you have any roster questions, we’re here to answer them.
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