Category: Fantasy Basketball (Page 258 of 274)

With Wednesday’s 91-69 win over the Nets, a decent but not great team, the Boston Celtics advanced to 7-0. Based on our poll, most of our readers think that the C’s won’t lose until 11/23 or after. Here’s their upcoming schedule:

11/16: vs. MIA
11/18: @ ORL
11/21: vs. GS
11/23: vs. LAL
11/24: @ CHA
11/27: @ CLE

That 11/18 game at Orlando is shaping up to be a good test for the new-look Celtics. If they get by the Magic, the Warriors, Lakers and Cavs should all provide interesting matchups.

It’s no surprise that the Celtics are playing well offensively. With Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, they have three guys that can create their own shot whenever they want. What is surprising, however, is how much defense the C’s are playing. They are first in the league in points allowed (87.1) and in opponent’s FG % (38.9%). If they can keep that up, they’ll be the class of the East.

A couple of months ago, I called Isiah Thomas a stone cold idiot.

Now, it’s Stephon Marbury’s turn.

Just when you thought that Starbury was fitting in well with Isiah Thomas’ team, Knicks owner James Dolan sat down with Thomas to talk about reducing Marbury’s playing time. The Knicks then announced that Mardy Collins would start at point guard, and Marbury would come off the bench.

After being demoted, Marbury left the Knicks in Phoenix, claiming that he had permission to leave. He then claimed that he has dirt on his head coach:

“Isiah has to start me. I’ve got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I’ll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know.”

Huh?

The Knicks fined Marbury more than $180 K for skipping the Suns game, prompting him to hop on a plane to meet the team in Los Angeles for tonight’s game against the Clippers, but one wonders if Thomas will welcome him back after threatening to go public with whatever dirt he has on his coach.

The Knicks would like to trade him, but his outrageous salary – he’s due to make $42 million over the next two seasons – makes that difficult. He may have more value after the season, when a team trying to slash payroll might find a one-year deal worth the trouble. The team could buy him out, which would make him a free agent. It’s not like Dolan doesn’t have the cash.

Not long ago, Isiah put his foot in his mouth when he said – unprompted, mind you – that it was more disrespectful for a white man to call a black woman a bitch than it was for a black man to use the same term. Now Marbury is trying to use the media to blackmail his coach into starting him.

What’s next?

An estimated 200 million people (most of them in China) tuned in to see Yao Ming battle Yi Jianlian for the first time. Both players finished with good numbers, though Yao dominated the Bucks’ big men, posting 28 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Yi got off to a slow start, but finished with 19 points and nine boards. His game has been compared to Dirk Nowitzki’s, and while he’s not on the same level, the similarities are there. He has a terrific jumper, but he doesn’t have Dirk’s ability to penetrate, at least not yet. Defensively, he has a tendency to foul, but he’s very quick for a guy his size. He is off to a good start and looks to be one of the frontrunners for the All-Rookie Team.

But back to the game – it was closer than the final score would suggest. Yi’s three-pointer brought the Bucks within two, 84-82, with 6:16 to play in the fourth quarter before the Rockets went on a 20-6 run to close the game. The Bucks did not have an answer for Bonzi Wells (18 points, seven rebounds), who is playing with serious energy after phoning it in last season.

Houston advanced to 5-1 while the Bucks fell to 2-3.

Once news broke that Elton Brand would miss most of the season with an Achilles injury, everyone (including myself) pretty much wrote the Clippers off. But after four games, the team is undefeated and is sitting alone in first place in the Pacific division.

How is this happening?

Well, for one, Corey Maggette is fulfilling expectations, averaging 19.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists, while shooting 50% from long range. Chris Kaman is having a career year, posting 16.8 points, 16.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. I thought he’d step his game up, but I wasn’t expecting him to step it up like that.

Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas are both providing scoring – 18.3 and 16.0 ppg, respectively – while Sam Cassell is leading the team as only he can.

Lastly, the competition hasn’t been all that good. When removing the losses to the Clippers, their opponents are a combined 4-11. The Clippers visit Detroit tonight and host the Cavs on Sunday, so it will be quite the feat if they’re still perfect on Monday morning.

Give these guys a look if you need help at SG or SF:

Kelenna Azubuike, Warriors
Golden State has started the season 0-5, but it’s not Azubuike’s fault. He usurped Matt Barnes as the starting small forward and is averaging 18.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 35 minutes per game. Moreover, he’s shooting 53% from the field and is knocking down 1.4 threes per game. He’s no slouch on defense, either, as he’s averaging 1.0 steal per game thus far this season.

Greg Buckner, Timberwolves
With Rashad McCants out with an ankle injury, Buckner took over starting off guard duties and posted 18 points, three rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes. Even though he came off the bench in the first two games, he has played at least 25 minutes and made two threes in every game this season.