My suggestion? Focus! Don't bring your fantasy baseball brain into this column! It is basketball crunch time right now, and you need to start focusing on how to get a top two seed in the playoffs, or how to make the playoffs, or (and hopefully this isn't the case) how to get your team out of the cellar and avoid all the embarrassment that comes with a last place team. So let's get to work.
So here is what we're going to do. After briefly catching you up to date on the ten players you insisted on searching for this week, I'm going to discuss a few additional players that should be in the top ten most searched players. Deal? Okay, let's get started.
Pure Excitement
Mike Bibby – Bibby caught a flu bug that's been going around. His long-term outlook remains great, but his short-term outlook will probably include a few sluggish games until he regains his strength. His first game back he certainly looked sluggish, as he played 19 minutes and didn't score a point. But rather than dwell on that, let's instead take a moment to recognize how good Mike Bibby has been this year (and when I say this year, I mean the beginning of the season up until January. After that things get hazy). UPDATE: Yes, January, February, and now March have been pretty tough on Bibby. But he's better than this (see November and December). And he appears to be over his bout of flu.
Okay, moment over. Moving on.
Delonte West – Be honest: when I asked you for a moment of quiet time in honor of Mike Bibby, did you find your mind drifting to thoughts of Delonte West? West has also been very good this year, and as long as his wrist soreness doesn't slow him down, he should continue to rack up big nights playing next to LeBron.
Steve Nash – Nash is day-to-day with a sprained ankle, but it sounds like he'll be back on the court soon. Back in time for this week, you ask? Well, the team that has Nash in my weekly league has him on the bench for the upcoming week. However, I could certainly see others wanting to start him. I'd probably start him if I owned him: he's got a four-game week and his first game is Tuesday. Hopefully he plays tonight (Sunday night) and makes your decision easier. UPDATE: Nash will not play Sunday night. SECOND UPDATE: Nash returned to play 37 and 40 minutes in his first two games back after missing three games with an ankle injury.
Nene Hilario – Nene returned earlier than expected. Rejoice! Look for his minutes to gradually increase over the next few games. Update: Nene is back to doing what he does (he played 34 minutes Thursday night).
Cautious Optimism
Danny Granger – 80% of you think Granger will be a top 15 player from the time he steps back on the court until the end of the season. If that isn't optimisim, I don't know what is. Latest reports are that he's healing slowing, but the optimism in me is hoping that his time off will help his knees heal up. Granger is worried that he's starting to lose fitness, but hopefully he's at least been running in the pool to get his heartrate up. Oh, and it should be noted that Granger is in the 11th day of his initial 10 days-to-three-week window. UPDATE: Granger's injury is apparently healing fine, and he was nearly ready to play a few times this week. Perhaps he'll give it a go this weekend. If you play in a weekly league, you may want to hold him out for one more week.
Tim Duncan – Duncan is scheduled to return tonight (Sunday), and should be fine going forward. UPDATE: Tim might be playing with Drew Gooden soon.
Unmitigated Wariness
Stephon Marbury – I had decided in my head that if Marbury ever made it back into the top ten most searched players, I would ignore him and pretend he wasn't there. I am breaking that mental promise right now, but only to instruct you to continue to not care about anything Marbury. I refuse to believe that he'll be useful, except maybe in the deepest of leagues. But in your typical ten and twelve team leagues, the fact that Marbury is now on the Celtics should mean nothing to you. My point is harder to make when the only data we have is the one game Marbury has played in so far: eight points, two rebounds, and three assists in 13 minutes. If you were to convert those stats to a 39 minute night by Marbury, he'd have had 24 points, six rebounds, and nine assists. Sounds pretty good. But don't believe it. Fools gold. Let someone else nab Marbury. I feel like I might be in the minority in holding this position. Am I?*
Active Worry
Greg Oden – Oden will miss his seventh straight game tonight. As I said last week, I tend to be aggressive, sometimes overly so, but I'd drop Oden for something, anything, else. If you trade deadline is March 5th, you might want to see if you can trade Oden for the worst player on someone else's team. UPDATE: Oden was just dropped in one of my ten-team leagues. Nobody moved to pick him up.
Drew Gooden – An aggressive league-mate in my ten team league dropped Gooden last week and nobody picked him up. Sure, his one-game outburst for the Kings was impressive (12 points, 13 boards), but I have no confidence that he can hold his body together for the long haul. The has groin/hernia issues up the, er, wazzu. UPDATE: Gooden is now a Spur. He might be a nice speculative grab if he's available, but my guess is he doesn't play more than twenty minutes a game for the Spurs.
Jason Terry – Terry was told by doctors that he wouldn't be able to return from his injury until late March, which is probably too late to help most fantasy teams. And now, suddenly there are reports of Terry practicing. But I don't believe that practicing means he'll be able to help your team in March. Dude has a broken hand. There is no way to recover "faster" when your bones are broke. So I would not run out and pick him up. Let someone else follow that tease. But what if I'm wrong, you say? What if I'm wrong and all it cost to get Terry's sweet stats was dropping the worst player on my team, who I didn't like anyway? Good point. So maybe there are some instances where dropping a player for Terry makes sense. But I wouldn't drop Francisco Garcia for him, for example. Or Jarrett Jack. Or Larry Hughes. You get the idea. UPDATE: Jason Terry returned...tonight (Sunday night). He didn't look great (8 points), but hey, he played. So I guess I was wrong on this one. Dead wrong. Hope you got your man!
Speaking of Jack, Garcia, and Hughes, those are the exact folks that I think should be in the top ten most search players for this week. Here's why:
Jarrett Jack – Who knew that Jack, a career 44% shooter, could shoot over 49% for any stretch of time, let alone an entire month. He's probably not available in most active leagues, but I feel like it needs to be noted that his 16 points, 4.1 rebound, 3.4 assist, 1.3 steal, .4 block for the month of February was impressive. With Dunleavy done, Jack should continue to be able to jack up shots, and hopefully he is able to continue to make a high percentage of them.
Larry Hughes – Hughes is one of those rare players who can manage to score over 22 points while shooting under 39% (he did this in the 1999 – 2000 season). Now that he's going to be getting starter minutes for the Knicks, look for him to rival Al Harrington and Nate Robinson for most shot attempts. What do I mean with all my snarky comments? Hughes will help you in some leagues and hurt you in others. If you need to protect your shooting percentage in a smaller league that starts fewer players, don't bother with Hughes. But if you are in a bigger league that can absorb Hughes' 40% shooting, get him if he is able to be gotten.
Francisco Garcia – I've always been a big fan of guys who do a little bit in each category but aren't flashy in any single category. These are the guys that tend to be undervalued. Garcia has been great of late, and as long as he can hold onto his starting spot, he should continue to be a huge asset. It is also worth noting that Garcia and the Kings have a sold 4-2-4-4 schedule in the fantasy playoffs. Perhaps look to target him before any impending trade deadlines pass. UPDATE: Garcia has a non-displaced fracture in his finger, and so it would probably be best to see how much it bothers him before trading for him.
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