Oh baby.... a 3 game slate always makes things interesting...
So many people with so little variance. This should be an interesting, and low volume, night for me.
Anyway, onto my picks:
PG: Russell Westbrook - $13,000 - OKC: Yup, you read that right. His salary has gotten out of control. I may end up fading him in tournaments and only playing him in cash, but right now I have him in both. The Bulls ranked near the bottom of the NBA in guarding the PG position with Rondo and that has actually somehow gotten worse since MCW took over, believe it or not. Jimmy Butler has been downgraded to questionable today, which means this game should stay close and Westbrook should get a big chunk of minutes. He's been going crazy the last few games and I intend on riding that train for another game.
SG: Dwayne Wade - $6,200 - Bulls: Again, this is an "if Butler sits" lock for me. Without Butler you have to look for Wade to take over the offense for the Bulls. They have already announced that Wade will play tonight and likely rest tomorrow, so this is a must start spot for him, in my opinion. I am a little afraid of Oladipo's defense, but I still think Wade gets his numbers tonight and is just one of three Bulls I'm using in my early day lineups.
SF: Doug McDermott - $4,200 - Bulls: With or without Butler, I'm playing Doug tonight. His minutes are solidified in the rotation and he is getting more and more comfortable with his shot. Once an offensive weapon like McDermott gets comfortable and allows the game to slow down for him a bit he has the ability to score in waves. Right now things are going well for Doug and I plan on riding this wave out.
PF: Kristaps Porzingis - $7.400 - Knicks: The over/under on this game is large and the young phenom looks to be back and at full speed again after an injury scare. With Carmelo battling a shoulder injury I look for Porzingis to take on the burden of scoring for this team. He has flashed 50-60 point upside and, when healthy, his basement is still pretty solid. I like him tonight in an up and down game vs the Pelicans.
C: Donatas Motiejunas - $3,000 - Pelicans: 100% pure tournament pick as we literally know nothing about his spot in the rotation. He played 20 minutes in his first game of the season and performed admirably, but there is no data that says he will get that much run again tonight. He will not be in my cash game lineups, but I have to take a shot in getting him into a few tournament spots.
G: Michael Carter-Williams - $4,600 - Bulls: This pick scares me. Grant's minutes have been creeping up and he actually out minute'd MCW in the last game. That being said, I am still going to run Carter-Williams out there in my tournament lineups as I feel he has the highest fantasy upside and his price is still reasonable. In an up tempo game MCW should thrive, so here's to hoping he gets 25+ minutes tonight vs OKC.
F: Dirk Nowitzki - $5,200 - Mavericks: Is he the Dirk of old? Of course not. However, Dirk has been creeping up in minutes and actually played 30 in Dallas' last game. He is taking double digit shot attempts and has scored 20+ fantasy points his last three games. Again, a tournament option only for me tonight, but well worth the risk of at least reaching value with the chance of going over a bit.
UTL: Steven Adams - $6,000 - Thunder: I am not sure there is a player on this slate more than I like Adams tonight. He has been consistently exceed value recently yet continues to go over-looked in most lineups. Tonight I expect him to be higher owned simply because the slate is so small, but I will still have him in the majority of my lineups this evening.
I also like: Tyreke Evans, Buddy Heild, JJ Barea and a few others tonight for low dollar tournament punts.
The big news will be whether or not Jimmy Butler plays, so I'll be holding my lock button until we hear that news.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Heading into the Royal Rumble, is it too early to speculate on WrestleMania?
As fans, one of the most exciting things to do it a) guess who will be the surprise entrants into the Rumble each year and b) try and figure out the path to WrestleMania and who will be facing who.
Since the Rumble hasn't happened yet, that makes figuring out the matches for 'Mania a little tricky, but that never stopped anyone from trying!
Match #1: Brock Lesnar v Goldberg
After Brock's embarrassing defeat at the Survivor Series and his disappearing act since, one has to think that he will somehow cost Goldberg at the Rumble thus re-igniting that spark. I am not sure if he eliminates him clean or, the more likely candidate, Goldberg tosses Lesnar over and Brock goes crazy and hops back into the ring and tosses Goldberg out.
That is a whole other point all together. How long will the WWE go on with this craziness that allows people that have been eliminated to come back in and eliminate the remaining competitors?! What would stop Brock, under this rule, from coming back in when the match was down to say Goldberg vs Reigns and close-lining them both over the top rope at the same time. Who wins? It's just a crazy hole that makes no sense ... but I digress.
This feud has to have a blow-off match at the 'Grandest Stage of them All' but the question remains: who wins?
Goldberg has been contracted to appear in several PPVs it sounds and Lesnar is supposed to be WWE's "monster" so either of them losing wouldn't make sense. I would have to think Lesnar goes over as I can't imagine they'd have him lose 3 in a row to Goldberg and thus ruining the push that they'd been giving Lesnar for the last couple of years.
Match #2: Seth Rollins v HHH
With Rollins calling out Hunter week after week, this one seems like it is pretty much in the bag as well. Again, WWE could use the Rumble as a way to get this one started again as well by having HHH either be IN the Rumble and eliminate Rollins or come out and distract him long enough for another competitor to toss him out. Either way, I fully expect a HHH sighting soon and these two to put on a very solid match at 'Mania
Match #3: Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho
This match makes me happy and sad all at the same time. Happy because it should be an absolutely great match with some strong tension and story telling in the ring. KO is one of the best in the business, when they let him be, on story telling and showing anger towards his opponent in the squared-circle. His "best friend turned enemy" story with Zayn in NxT was some of the best work I have seen from any superstar in recent years and I fully expect that level of awesomeness from Owens in this feud.
The sad part is, this likely means KO loses the Universal title along the way.
Unfortunately, at this point in his career, I can't imagine the WWE would put Y2J into a match for the main title for the flagship show. The only way I can see this being for a belt at all is if Jericho beats Reigns for the US belt and they end up fighting for that at WrestleMania, but I fully expect this to be a match that is purely based on the hatred they will end up having for each other.
Match #4: Bayley v Sasha Banks v Charlotte
This one comes with an * as there have been recent rumors of trading Sasha over to SmackDown, but at this time that has not happened so I will more forward with the current roster structure.
This could easily be a one on one match with Sasha being the odd lady out, but I think it would be much more entertaining as a triple threat. The problem is, it's the same triple threat as last time, only with Bayley taking Becky's spot -- so maybe they do lean more towards a 1 on 1 match instead.
Either way, this should be the crowning moment where Bayley wins the title and goes on her long reign as women's champion.
The crowd is fully behind her and it's clear they're pushing her in the same form they did Daniel Bryan, so this is the perfect spot to crown her as the face of the women's division.
Match #5: Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton
They have already started the tension within this group so it is only a matter of time before the Viper turns on the Eater of Worlds. I would not be surprised to see, by the time 'Mania comes along, that Orton plays the heel while the Wyatt family is playing the face(s).
Orton is much better as a heel while the crowd is dying to get behind Wyatt and his brothers. It would only make sense for this break up to help lead them down this path.
On a side note, speaking of brothers, can we please get Bo Dallas into the Wyatt family? I love his in-ring work and he's being completely wasted at this point. I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to ride his brother's coat tails, but at least it would make him relevant for a while.
Ok, that's enough of the "this is what will likely happen" matches and move onto the "please let these happen" matches:
Match #6: American Alpha vs The Revival
These two teams are leaps and bounds the best "old school" tag-teams in the WWE right now. I fully believe The Revival has the ability to be what "The Club" was supposed to be. Heels that can come in and be that old-school heel that takes shortcuts to win, be smug but get the job done. Their catch phrase "No Flips, Just Fists" is incredible.
These two teams put on some spectacular matches in NxT and I think they're ready to do their dance on the big stage in front of the largest crowd the WWE sees, at WrestleMania.
Match #7: AJ Styles vs Fin Balor
I know, I know, Fin is on RAW and I said we were going with current roster structures, but this is my "please let this happen" part, so I'm hoping this make this work.
Fin, at this point, doesn't look to have a spot in the main event picture on RAW and, the be honest, if he's not feuding with KO or Rollins, I wouldn't want to waste him on that brand. The ONLY other person on the Raw roster I would like to see Fin feud with is Cesaro, but we see that they are having a hard time believing in pushing him to the top, so I want Fin to end up on Smackdown.
A dream match featuring the Demon vs the Phenomenal One would be a show stopping event. This is a match that could go down as one of the all-time great is done right and pulled off properly.
Match #8: John Cena vs Undertaker
The Undertaker will certainly have a spot on this card one way or another. One of the hot rumors is that he wins the Rumble and faces Reigns at 'Mania. That could be an absolute trainwreck.
At this point in his career, UT need someone that can carry him through a match and allow him to hit a spot or two, but more so making it a slug-fest that would be entertaining as well as someone that could carry him through a big spot or two.
Would you trust Reigns to do that?
Cena, though he never gets credit for it, is a pretty solid in-ring worker and can work up or down to his opponent. Knowing he's in the spotlight facing one of the all-time greatest in the business, I think Cena can certainly do his part to make this look like a competitive match without making UT look like a total stiff. There aren't many people in the business at this point that I would trust to work a match with UT and make it look good, Cena is on that short list.
Match #9: Sami Zayn vs Dean Ambrose
Dean is better as a heel and they need to get him back to being just that. This would be another match that would involve a trade, but they need to move Zayn at this point to help re-start his career. He is currently a punching bag for his bigger foes and it's quite frankly getting old.
Moving Zayn over to Smackdown and giving him a match with the Lunatic Fringe would be an exciting match that could give these guys a chance to steal the show with some of their high spots.
Match #10: New Day (c) vs The Club vs Enzo and Big Cass
They either need to break up the New Day and let Big E move onto the US title picture while X moves over to the 205 live brand, though that leaves Kofi fluttering in the wind. My other thought would be to turn them heel again and have them cheat to 'steal' the titles back and start completely dodging all real opponents or ducking out in matches. Maybe getting themselves DQ'd to keep the belts, getting counted out, random cheats, whatever it takes to get people to hate them again.
This would give the 3 "big" tag teams on RAW into a match and kind of hide some of the deficiencies that each of these teams have. Also, there are only so many slots on this card so we have to bundle some of these guys together.
Match #11: Cesaro vs Shemaus
If they're both still on RAW, one would think this would be the blow off match that would end their rivalry for good. Honestly, these are two guys I would put into a Money in the Bank match (with Cesaro winning) if they decide to go that route at this years' event.
Otherwise, if no MIB, I would have these two have a blow off match to end their interaction for good, never to be heard from again. It's time they go their separate ways and start Cesaro's push to the top.
Match #12: The Miz vs Bobby Roode
The Miz is easily the best worker WWE has on the mic right now. After re-capturing his title from Ambrose and then retaining it vs him several times, I can see Miz coming out week after week taunting Daniel Bryan about not having anyone on Smackdown that can beat him. Feed him guys like Tyler Breeze, Apollo Crews, Bo Dallas, Heath Slater, etc etc until finally Bryan comes out and says "well Miz, it looks like you've run over all of our Intercontinental contenders here on Smackdown ... so I had to to outside of the brand to find you a worthy competitor", and cue "Glorious" and have Roode come out to a verbal battle with the Miz. These two have very similar in-ring styles and could make for an entertaining feud both in and out of the ring.
Match #13: Rusev vs Baron Corbin
I know, we're getting to the point that there needs to be a lot of changes before this event, but so have you. Rusev is yet another guy that could use a change of scenery to help re-ignite a fire in him. Another great worker that is being wasted on silly gimmicks, moving him to Smackdown and letting him actually work would be great for his character.
Baron Corbin is being pushed as the "big dog" on Smackdown and someone eventually needs to step up and knock him down a peg. Pushing Rusev as a bit of a tweener face/heel to feud against Corbin would set up a hard hitting match between two guys who have styles that would work together quite well.
You may notice that I haven't put Reigns in any match just yet. Well, that's because I'm a dreamer. I know they can't raid the NxT brand for all of it's stars, but I think they're missing the boat by not promoting this next guy as I think he would be a global face that would absolutely be the biggest thing that's come to WWE in quite a lot time.
Match #14: Roman Reigns (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura
What better way to get Nakamura over with the fans!? A surprise entrant into the Royal Rumble, Shinsuke works his way through the event and stands alone atop as the winner and gets his shot at the title at 'Mania.
Reigns will likely beat KO for the Universal title, so this would set up a hard hitting match between "the big dog" and the "King of strong style".
Over the next few months all we can hope for is that the WWE finally lets Roman start embracing the boos and working on a heel turn, culminating at Mania when Shinsuke beats him for the title and the crowd erupts.
This would give Roman the ability to come out the next night and give the fans a big "screw you for not supporting me" speech and going full fledged heel like everyone has been hoping for.
As for Shinsuke, this guy has it all. I am not sure I have been looking forward to a debut in the WWE as much as I have for this guy. If you don't know who he is you should google him and watch some of his NxT matches or New Japan matches on youtube. You'll see what I mean.
Man, there are a few guys and gals I left out of this, as I have no idea what they'll be doing with them. For example, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss. Will that feud be going that long and, if not, who the heck is next in line for the Smackdown women's title? Nikki Bella again? Asuka should get her chance at some point, but again, will they be calling up all of the NxT talent with seemingly very little to replace them?
Will Samoa Joe get the call at some point? If so, where does he end up and who will he be facing?
Where does Braun Stroman fit into the plans? Would be be facing Reigns if they don't make any big call-ups for this event? I could see the WWE putting it's two big men in the ring against each other. I would not be shocked in the least if this happens.
What about Ziggler? Who will he be facing? He HAS to have a spot in the show as he's one of the best workers they have, but where does he fit?
Also, the 205 live division. I did not write about them, but could see them having a fatal 4 way or something, as there is a lot of talent in that division.
So many starts, so little time.
And no, I will not write about the Big Show v Shaq match, ever.
Since the Rumble hasn't happened yet, that makes figuring out the matches for 'Mania a little tricky, but that never stopped anyone from trying!
Match #1: Brock Lesnar v Goldberg
After Brock's embarrassing defeat at the Survivor Series and his disappearing act since, one has to think that he will somehow cost Goldberg at the Rumble thus re-igniting that spark. I am not sure if he eliminates him clean or, the more likely candidate, Goldberg tosses Lesnar over and Brock goes crazy and hops back into the ring and tosses Goldberg out.
That is a whole other point all together. How long will the WWE go on with this craziness that allows people that have been eliminated to come back in and eliminate the remaining competitors?! What would stop Brock, under this rule, from coming back in when the match was down to say Goldberg vs Reigns and close-lining them both over the top rope at the same time. Who wins? It's just a crazy hole that makes no sense ... but I digress.
This feud has to have a blow-off match at the 'Grandest Stage of them All' but the question remains: who wins?
Goldberg has been contracted to appear in several PPVs it sounds and Lesnar is supposed to be WWE's "monster" so either of them losing wouldn't make sense. I would have to think Lesnar goes over as I can't imagine they'd have him lose 3 in a row to Goldberg and thus ruining the push that they'd been giving Lesnar for the last couple of years.
Match #2: Seth Rollins v HHH
With Rollins calling out Hunter week after week, this one seems like it is pretty much in the bag as well. Again, WWE could use the Rumble as a way to get this one started again as well by having HHH either be IN the Rumble and eliminate Rollins or come out and distract him long enough for another competitor to toss him out. Either way, I fully expect a HHH sighting soon and these two to put on a very solid match at 'Mania
Match #3: Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho
This match makes me happy and sad all at the same time. Happy because it should be an absolutely great match with some strong tension and story telling in the ring. KO is one of the best in the business, when they let him be, on story telling and showing anger towards his opponent in the squared-circle. His "best friend turned enemy" story with Zayn in NxT was some of the best work I have seen from any superstar in recent years and I fully expect that level of awesomeness from Owens in this feud.
The sad part is, this likely means KO loses the Universal title along the way.
Unfortunately, at this point in his career, I can't imagine the WWE would put Y2J into a match for the main title for the flagship show. The only way I can see this being for a belt at all is if Jericho beats Reigns for the US belt and they end up fighting for that at WrestleMania, but I fully expect this to be a match that is purely based on the hatred they will end up having for each other.
Match #4: Bayley v Sasha Banks v Charlotte
This one comes with an * as there have been recent rumors of trading Sasha over to SmackDown, but at this time that has not happened so I will more forward with the current roster structure.
This could easily be a one on one match with Sasha being the odd lady out, but I think it would be much more entertaining as a triple threat. The problem is, it's the same triple threat as last time, only with Bayley taking Becky's spot -- so maybe they do lean more towards a 1 on 1 match instead.
Either way, this should be the crowning moment where Bayley wins the title and goes on her long reign as women's champion.
The crowd is fully behind her and it's clear they're pushing her in the same form they did Daniel Bryan, so this is the perfect spot to crown her as the face of the women's division.
Match #5: Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton
They have already started the tension within this group so it is only a matter of time before the Viper turns on the Eater of Worlds. I would not be surprised to see, by the time 'Mania comes along, that Orton plays the heel while the Wyatt family is playing the face(s).
Orton is much better as a heel while the crowd is dying to get behind Wyatt and his brothers. It would only make sense for this break up to help lead them down this path.
On a side note, speaking of brothers, can we please get Bo Dallas into the Wyatt family? I love his in-ring work and he's being completely wasted at this point. I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to ride his brother's coat tails, but at least it would make him relevant for a while.
Ok, that's enough of the "this is what will likely happen" matches and move onto the "please let these happen" matches:
Match #6: American Alpha vs The Revival
These two teams are leaps and bounds the best "old school" tag-teams in the WWE right now. I fully believe The Revival has the ability to be what "The Club" was supposed to be. Heels that can come in and be that old-school heel that takes shortcuts to win, be smug but get the job done. Their catch phrase "No Flips, Just Fists" is incredible.
These two teams put on some spectacular matches in NxT and I think they're ready to do their dance on the big stage in front of the largest crowd the WWE sees, at WrestleMania.
Match #7: AJ Styles vs Fin Balor
I know, I know, Fin is on RAW and I said we were going with current roster structures, but this is my "please let this happen" part, so I'm hoping this make this work.
Fin, at this point, doesn't look to have a spot in the main event picture on RAW and, the be honest, if he's not feuding with KO or Rollins, I wouldn't want to waste him on that brand. The ONLY other person on the Raw roster I would like to see Fin feud with is Cesaro, but we see that they are having a hard time believing in pushing him to the top, so I want Fin to end up on Smackdown.
A dream match featuring the Demon vs the Phenomenal One would be a show stopping event. This is a match that could go down as one of the all-time great is done right and pulled off properly.
Match #8: John Cena vs Undertaker
The Undertaker will certainly have a spot on this card one way or another. One of the hot rumors is that he wins the Rumble and faces Reigns at 'Mania. That could be an absolute trainwreck.
At this point in his career, UT need someone that can carry him through a match and allow him to hit a spot or two, but more so making it a slug-fest that would be entertaining as well as someone that could carry him through a big spot or two.
Would you trust Reigns to do that?
Cena, though he never gets credit for it, is a pretty solid in-ring worker and can work up or down to his opponent. Knowing he's in the spotlight facing one of the all-time greatest in the business, I think Cena can certainly do his part to make this look like a competitive match without making UT look like a total stiff. There aren't many people in the business at this point that I would trust to work a match with UT and make it look good, Cena is on that short list.
Match #9: Sami Zayn vs Dean Ambrose
Dean is better as a heel and they need to get him back to being just that. This would be another match that would involve a trade, but they need to move Zayn at this point to help re-start his career. He is currently a punching bag for his bigger foes and it's quite frankly getting old.
Moving Zayn over to Smackdown and giving him a match with the Lunatic Fringe would be an exciting match that could give these guys a chance to steal the show with some of their high spots.
Match #10: New Day (c) vs The Club vs Enzo and Big Cass
They either need to break up the New Day and let Big E move onto the US title picture while X moves over to the 205 live brand, though that leaves Kofi fluttering in the wind. My other thought would be to turn them heel again and have them cheat to 'steal' the titles back and start completely dodging all real opponents or ducking out in matches. Maybe getting themselves DQ'd to keep the belts, getting counted out, random cheats, whatever it takes to get people to hate them again.
This would give the 3 "big" tag teams on RAW into a match and kind of hide some of the deficiencies that each of these teams have. Also, there are only so many slots on this card so we have to bundle some of these guys together.
Match #11: Cesaro vs Shemaus
If they're both still on RAW, one would think this would be the blow off match that would end their rivalry for good. Honestly, these are two guys I would put into a Money in the Bank match (with Cesaro winning) if they decide to go that route at this years' event.
Otherwise, if no MIB, I would have these two have a blow off match to end their interaction for good, never to be heard from again. It's time they go their separate ways and start Cesaro's push to the top.
Match #12: The Miz vs Bobby Roode
The Miz is easily the best worker WWE has on the mic right now. After re-capturing his title from Ambrose and then retaining it vs him several times, I can see Miz coming out week after week taunting Daniel Bryan about not having anyone on Smackdown that can beat him. Feed him guys like Tyler Breeze, Apollo Crews, Bo Dallas, Heath Slater, etc etc until finally Bryan comes out and says "well Miz, it looks like you've run over all of our Intercontinental contenders here on Smackdown ... so I had to to outside of the brand to find you a worthy competitor", and cue "Glorious" and have Roode come out to a verbal battle with the Miz. These two have very similar in-ring styles and could make for an entertaining feud both in and out of the ring.
Match #13: Rusev vs Baron Corbin
I know, we're getting to the point that there needs to be a lot of changes before this event, but so have you. Rusev is yet another guy that could use a change of scenery to help re-ignite a fire in him. Another great worker that is being wasted on silly gimmicks, moving him to Smackdown and letting him actually work would be great for his character.
Baron Corbin is being pushed as the "big dog" on Smackdown and someone eventually needs to step up and knock him down a peg. Pushing Rusev as a bit of a tweener face/heel to feud against Corbin would set up a hard hitting match between two guys who have styles that would work together quite well.
You may notice that I haven't put Reigns in any match just yet. Well, that's because I'm a dreamer. I know they can't raid the NxT brand for all of it's stars, but I think they're missing the boat by not promoting this next guy as I think he would be a global face that would absolutely be the biggest thing that's come to WWE in quite a lot time.
Match #14: Roman Reigns (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura
What better way to get Nakamura over with the fans!? A surprise entrant into the Royal Rumble, Shinsuke works his way through the event and stands alone atop as the winner and gets his shot at the title at 'Mania.
Reigns will likely beat KO for the Universal title, so this would set up a hard hitting match between "the big dog" and the "King of strong style".
Over the next few months all we can hope for is that the WWE finally lets Roman start embracing the boos and working on a heel turn, culminating at Mania when Shinsuke beats him for the title and the crowd erupts.
This would give Roman the ability to come out the next night and give the fans a big "screw you for not supporting me" speech and going full fledged heel like everyone has been hoping for.
As for Shinsuke, this guy has it all. I am not sure I have been looking forward to a debut in the WWE as much as I have for this guy. If you don't know who he is you should google him and watch some of his NxT matches or New Japan matches on youtube. You'll see what I mean.
Man, there are a few guys and gals I left out of this, as I have no idea what they'll be doing with them. For example, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss. Will that feud be going that long and, if not, who the heck is next in line for the Smackdown women's title? Nikki Bella again? Asuka should get her chance at some point, but again, will they be calling up all of the NxT talent with seemingly very little to replace them?
Will Samoa Joe get the call at some point? If so, where does he end up and who will he be facing?
Where does Braun Stroman fit into the plans? Would be be facing Reigns if they don't make any big call-ups for this event? I could see the WWE putting it's two big men in the ring against each other. I would not be shocked in the least if this happens.
What about Ziggler? Who will he be facing? He HAS to have a spot in the show as he's one of the best workers they have, but where does he fit?
Also, the 205 live division. I did not write about them, but could see them having a fatal 4 way or something, as there is a lot of talent in that division.
So many starts, so little time.
And no, I will not write about the Big Show v Shaq match, ever.
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