Category: Fantasy Basketball (Page 202 of 274)

      Starbury’s downside blown out of proportion?

      January 6, 2009 /

      Peter May of HoopsHype.com writes that if the Celtics decide to sign Stephon Marbury, it might not be such a bad thing.

      While I am not a big Marbury fan – and I believe I am in the majority on this – I have trouble seeing a downside to him coming to the Celtics. You have to think he would be willing to accept a backup role – if he isn’t, it’s ‘end of discussion’ – and would be on his best behavior. If he decides to go into Knucklehead Mode, well, that’s what waivers are for. The Celtics wouldn’t eat more than a veteran minimum guarantee, pro-rated.

      Ever since James Posey signed with New Orleans last summer and PJ Brown retired, apparently for good this time, the Celtics have known they need to bulk up their bench. While Marbury does not address one need – size – he does address a number of others.

      He can handle the ball. That was a concern last year as well, which led to the February signing of Sam Cassell. The Celtics re-signed Cassell, but he still has yet to play this season. The other point guard options – Eddie House, Gabe Pruitt – are either out-of-position players (House) or still raw around the edges for the playoffs (Pruitt.)

      Marbury also can, as they say these days, score the ball. Having a reliable scorer in the second unit has been a problem for the Celtics all season. One night Tony Allen looks like he’ll be the guy. The next night he looks the guy who the Celtics refused to extend last summer and whose mere presence on the court last spring inspired dread and fear in Celtics fans.

      Marbury also would be insurance if one of the guards got hurt. (The Celtics’ three guard-small forward starters have yet to miss a game this season.) Plus, if he did come in and play well, the Celtics could consider him down the road, as one of the issues on the horizon is that Ray Allen’s deal expires after the 2009-10 season. While Marbury and Allen were taken in the same draft (1996), and, in fact, traded for each other that day, Marbury is two years younger.

      The behavior question is really moot. Think Randy Moss and the New England Patriots. The Celtics have a strong locker room and there is no way that Danny Ainge would foist Marbury on his coach or his team without running it by all of them.

      This is a well thought out piece, unlike a lot of the “he’s a cancer” arguments I’ve been seeing these days. I’m no fan of Marbury either, but as May writes (and as I wrote last week) there is very little downside to the C’s rolling the dice. The bench is thinner than a year ago and the Lakers have added Andrew Bynum. Boston needs to get better and Marbury, if he behaves (which he has shown that he can do…in spurts), then he can help this team.

      The bottom line is that with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen the culture in that locker room is too strong to let him become a distraction. If it doesn’t work out in the first couple of months, the team can cut him and (probably) won’t be any worse for the wear. But I think it would work out, and Marbury would be on the road to rehabbing his career. Mind you, I’m not saying that he will successfully rehab the career, but that he has the potential of completing the first step — helping the Boston Celtics.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Finals, Rumors & Gossip

      ‘Melo: “Anything you can do, I can do better.”

      January 3, 2009 /

      Check out this finish from the Nuggets/Thunder game last night. Pay special attention to the pair of shots that start at the 1:45 mark.

      The big difference in Kevin Durant this season is his shooting percentages. Last season, he shot 43% from the field and 29% from long range. This year, he he’s hitting 46% of his shots and is deadly (44.4%) from three-point range.

      The big problem with the Thunder is their defense. Carmelo Anthony caught the ball too easily in the corner, and once he had it, I have no idea why Desmond Mason had his hands down at his waist. He should have extended his arms up to contest the shot — who cares if Anthony tries to dribble around him? There was barely any time left on the clock. That shot reminded me of Raja Bell’s game-winner over Daniel Ewing in the Suns/Clippers playoff series a few years ago.

      As for the Nuggets, the Chauncey Billups addition has been huge, but Nene is also playing great basketball. Over the last four seasons, he has missed 59% of his team’s games due to injury. This year, he’s finally healthy, is averaging 15/8 and is shooting 62% from the field. I’m still not sure that it makes sense to trade Marcus Camby away last summer, but Nene is doing his best to make up for that loss. He posted 27 points and 14 rebounds in last night’s win against the Thunder.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Television, Video

      Recent losses have Celtics thinking Starbury

      January 2, 2009 /

      ESPN is reporting that the Boston Celtics are interested in making a deal with Stephon Marbury if he can ever come to terms on a buyout with the Knicks.

      That still depends largely on Marbury’s ability to negotiate his release from the Knicks after weeks of fruitless and oft-contentious buyout talks, but sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com this week that Boston is Marbury’s preferred destination if he manages to become a free agent and that the Celtics are indeed hopeful of signing him.

      Celtics general manager Danny Ainge did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a New Year’s Day holiday for the entire league and has generally refused to address the possibility of signing Marbury. Yet it’s believed that the Celtics’ concerns about their depth, after losing James Posey and P.J. Brown from last season’s title team, have swelled noticeably since they followed up the best 29-game start in NBA history at 27-2 by losing three of the next four games on the road.

      Boston also knows it would have the option to simply release Marbury without significant salary-cap consequences if he fails to click as a backup or proves unwilling to accept a secondary role.

      It appears that the biggest obstacle to such a move is Marbury actually securing a buyout from the Knicks in a timely fashion as opposed to reservations Boston might have about Marbury’s impact on team chemistry.

      Although it has been widely assumed that Celtics forward Kevin Garnett would resist a reunion with the controversial point guard — after Marbury broke up their Minnesota partnership following less than three seasons together by forcing a trade to New Jersey — one Celtics source insists that Garnett has voiced no opposition to the idea of signing Marbury for the rest of the season to strengthen Boston’s backcourt depth behind starters Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen.

      When asked specifically about the likelihood of Marbury joining the Celtics this season, the source predicted that “it will happen.”

      Joining the NBA’s reigning champions would certainly back up Marbury’s recent claim at halftime of a Knicks-Lakers game in Los Angeles that “the team I’m going to go to, a lot of people will be shocked.”

      The move to Boston would surely add some drama to the playoff race in the East. It’s always fascinating to see how troubled stars fare in new environments and Marbury’s potential move to Boston would be no different. The Celtics interest in Marbury is a direct reflection on how they feel about Eddie House and Tony Allen coming off their bench. Marbury would definitely take a reserve role if he lands in Boston.

      The problem here seems to be with Marbury’s inability to negotiate a buyout with the Knicks. This is pure speculation, but he has stated that he wants his full salary for this season. This is shortsighted as his value this summer (as a free agent) depends heavily on how the rest of the year plays out. If he stays in New York and doesn’t play, what’s the best offer he’s going to get this summer? At that point he’d be a troublesome 32 year-old, shoot-first point guard.

      However, if he agrees to a buyout, lands in Boston and shows he can play well with others, he stands to benefit next summer in the form of a bigger (and potentially longer) contract. The downside for the Celtics is low because if he brings the headache to Beantown, they can cut him without much damage to their salary cap.

      Now that the holidays are over, I’d expect the Knicks and Marbury to move on a buyout. It’ll be interesting to watch this story develop over the next few weeks.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      It’s a good night to have the NBA League Pass

      January 2, 2009 /

      All 30 teams are in action tonight, so there will be 15 games starting in the three and a half hour span from 7:00 PM to 10:30 PM ET. Twelve games start between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

      The night lacks a marquee matchup, but there are solid matchups between the Heat/Magic, Bulls/Cavs, Hornets/Blazers and Jazz/Lakers.

      Unfortunately, the only game on national TV is the Knicks/Pacers matchup on NBA TV at 7:30 PM ET.

      Here’s a link to the complete schedule.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Television

      Luke Ridnour finding a home in Milwaukee

      December 31, 2008 /

      By far the most surprising score from Tuesday’s NBA action is the Bucks 100-98 win over the Spurs in San Antonio. Michael Redd led the Bucks with 25 points and 10 boards, while Andrew Bogut held down the middle with 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. More importantly, he limited Tim Duncan to 7 of 20 shooting from the field, which helped the Bucks spring the upset.

      But point guard Luke Ridnour might have been the difference in the game. He posted 21 points (on 9 of 15 shooting), six assists, five rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal, and if he didn’t outplay Tony Parker (19 points, 10 assists), then he sure negated him.

      Ridnour joined the Bucks as part of the three-team trade that sent Mo Williams to the Cavs in the offseason. He’s 27, and prior to joining the Bucks, he had spent his entire career in Seattle. At the beginning of the season, new head coach Scott Skiles immediately inserted him into the starting lineup and he has responded with solid play, especially recently.

      Take a look at Ridnour’s numbers from November and December:

      Nov: 10.6 ppg, 4.9 apg, 38.8% FG%, 0.93 spg
      Dec: 11.7 ppg, 6.2 apg, 47.7% FG%, 2.08 spg

      That jump in field goal percentage is key. He cut back on the number of three pointers he’s taking (from 2.9 to 1.7) and is taking more open mid-range jumpers created off of pick-and-rolls with Bogut.

      For much of November, I thought that Ramon Sessions (who is having a great year in his own right) would soon take over as the starter, but with Ridnour’s December play, I’m not so sure. Skiles is a former point guard, and he has two good, underrated options at the position. The key for Ridnour is to keep up that FG%; everyone knows that he can pass the ball.

      Sessions is a free agent after the season, and on a per-minute basis he’s still way ahead of Ridnour in terms of production (PER: 16.48 vs. 13.75). Ridnour has another year on his contract. It will be interesting to see how the team handles these two players. I wouldn’t be surprised if Skiles continues to play Ridnour heavy minutes so that he can keep a lid on Sessions’ league-wide profile until the Bucks can lock him up in a long-term deal at a discount. If that’s the case, he has to be careful not to alienate Sessions so much that a rift is created between the player and the head coach. It’s a bad, bad thing when a point guard and his coach aren’t on the same page.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑