When you are rebuilding your team you must sometimes take chances on some players that may have previously stumbled with other teams.
That is exactly where the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in 2017.
Two perfect examples of this philosophy are former Tampa Ray OF Desmond Jennings and former Detroit Tiger Ryan Raburn, both whom the Reds have signed to minor league contracts with a Major League spring training invite.
Jennings
was once a highly touted rookie for Tampa who ranked in the top 20 list
of MLB prospects in both 2009 and even started in the 2010 All-Star
Futures Game.
Unfortunately Jennings was never able to find his feet in the majors as was released from Tampa in August of 2016.
Desmond
is the kind of player that could thrive in a change of scenery and
moving from the American League to the National League.
Ryan Raburn, an 11 year MLB veteran, bring a career .253 average to Cincinnati with him to go along with 91 HRs and 352 RBI. After struggling last season in Colorado Raburn is looking for a chance to continue his career and the Reds are happy to take a flyer on him.
Colorado can be a fickle place as a hitter. Players that go there and play for several years tend to thrive due to the thin air, but on the flip side of that coin, some go there and attempt to change their game to become sluggers and take advantage of the great hitting environment. It is worth a shot to see if Raburn can re-discover the form that lead him to a .301 batting average for 82 games in Cleveland just two years ago.
Neither of these guys may make a huge impact on the team, but both are worth a minor league look to help give the Reds some OF depth and gives them a veteran presence to help the young guys continue to learn and grow.
Another veteran piece that Cincinnati has added is none other than former Red Bronson Arroyo.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not foolish enough to think that Bronson
will come in and give the Reds 200+ innings or win double digit games
but, more importantly, he will give them a veteran presence to help
bring along some of the young core of a rotation with a bright future.
In
2013, which seems like forever ago, Arroyo was finishing off a stretch
in which he gave the Reds 200 or more innings pitched in seven of eight
seasons and the one year he didn’t reach that milestone he was just a
single inning short.
One can only assume that he will not be
called upon to handle such a heavy load this year if he does make the
big league club out of spring training. Instead, I believe he will
mentor the likes of Amir Garrett, Robert Stephenson, Cody Reed, Luis
Castillo and Lisalverto Bonilla.
With Homer Bailey starting the year on the DL while he recovers from surgery on his right elbow Arroyo could find himself as a bit of a player coach and getting his chance on the back-end of the pitching rotation for the first month of the season. This could allow some of the young guys to either start in the bullpen or getting their time down in Louisville pitching in AAA until they are needed with the big club.
The Cincinnati Reds are not expected to compete for the National League Central pennant this year and likely will not threaten in the Wild Card standings for another season or two, but what they will do is play some great baseball in spurts and give their fans something to cheer for.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions
UPDATE: Tom Smallwood bowled a huge 258 in the final game to go around Jason Belmonte, who left a 2-4-8-10 in the 8th on a shot he looked like he really liked, to steal the final spot. PDW bowls a clutch 211 game on a pair he struggled on today to lock himself into the show. Here are your final standings:
1) EJ Tackett (Motiv)
2) Tommy Jones (Ebonite)
3) Dom Barrett (Track)
4) Tom Smallwood (Radical)
5) Pete Weber (Storm)
What an exciting finish to qualifying and this is exactly why XtraFrame is such a great feature. Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 1pm ET to ESPN for the live stepladder finals.
__________________________________________________________________________________
UPDATE: Down to the final game. EJ Tackett remains your leader with Tommy Jones sitting second 34 pins ahead of Dom Barrett in third. Dom is 50 pins ahead of PDW who is sitting 4th while 27 pins away from Pete is Jason Belmonte, who is putting on quite a display of bowling this morning. Only 4 pins away from Belmo sits Tom Smallwood in 6th with Mitch Beasley and Norm Duke tied for 7th only 17 pins off the show. Brad Angelo is in 9th 28 pins away from 5th and Marshall Kent is in 10th just 39 pins out.
Last game to go and this is going to be an exciting finish. Get to your XtraFrame now ... or come back here for more updates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: Just about to head to position round. Tom Smallwood (6)2 in the 10th bowling 256 to end with 218. Huge 10th frame for our 5th seed. Dom Barrett is about to bowl 290 to all but lock himself onto the show.
Scores coming up soon and down to just the position round remaining.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: Big shake up in the standings! Dom Barrett has moved up to 4th place while Tom Smallwood bowls his way into the 5th slot. PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke has dropped all of the way down to 6th just 2 pins out of 5th. Mitch Beasley remains 29 pins off the while while Belmonte is just 33 out. Brad Angelo is in 10th place but only 48 off the show.
These last two games are going to be on fire. The position round will be must see TV!!
Get to your XtraFrame right now.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: And we have some serious action going into the last couple games. Dom Barrett had 197 game 5 and remains in 5th, but just barely. Belmonte continued his hot day by shooting 245 to climb within 5 pins of the show. Meanwhile PDW has dropped down to 4th, only 75 ahead of Belmo now. Tom Smallwood is only 9 pins out of 5th while Mitch Beasley and Marshall Kent are just 35 off the show.
Things are going to be fun these last few games.
Current top 5:
EJ Tackett
Tommy Jones
Norm Duke
PDW
Dom Barrett
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dom Barrett tosses 243 game 4 to extend his lead to 28 pins over the two players tied for 6th in Marshall Kent and Tom Smallwood. Meanwhile, Jason Belmonte shot 256 game 4 to pick up a few pins on Dom with just 4 games remaining.
Inside the top 5 Pete Weber jumps Tommy Jones to move into the #2 slot behind EJ Tackett. The top 5 bowlers remain the same guys but the position has jumbled a bit.
Current standings after 4:
EJ Tackett (Motiv)
Pete Weber (Storm)
Tommy Jones (Ebonite)
Norm Duke (Storm)
Dom Barrett (Track)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things are starting to tighten up at the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions as Dom Barrett is sitting just two pins ahead of Tom Smallwood for the final position for Sunday's ESPN telecast.
Smallwood, who just put up 280 game three today, is part of a pack that is making a charge towards the telecast.
Marshall Kent struggled game 2 but bounced back with 241 game three to get within 23 of the 5th spot while Jason Belmonte has put up games of 237, 246 and 247 this morning to pull himself closer to the stepladder as he now sits just 66 pins out.
Mitch Beasley and Sean Rash are both also within 70 pins of Barrett with 5 games left to go.
Who will we see on Sunday's telecast? Tune into XtraFrame to find out.
Current top five:
EJ Tackett
Tommy Jones
Pete Weber
Norm Duke
Dom Barrett
1) EJ Tackett (Motiv)
2) Tommy Jones (Ebonite)
3) Dom Barrett (Track)
4) Tom Smallwood (Radical)
5) Pete Weber (Storm)
What an exciting finish to qualifying and this is exactly why XtraFrame is such a great feature. Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 1pm ET to ESPN for the live stepladder finals.
__________________________________________________________________________________
UPDATE: Down to the final game. EJ Tackett remains your leader with Tommy Jones sitting second 34 pins ahead of Dom Barrett in third. Dom is 50 pins ahead of PDW who is sitting 4th while 27 pins away from Pete is Jason Belmonte, who is putting on quite a display of bowling this morning. Only 4 pins away from Belmo sits Tom Smallwood in 6th with Mitch Beasley and Norm Duke tied for 7th only 17 pins off the show. Brad Angelo is in 9th 28 pins away from 5th and Marshall Kent is in 10th just 39 pins out.
Last game to go and this is going to be an exciting finish. Get to your XtraFrame now ... or come back here for more updates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: Just about to head to position round. Tom Smallwood (6)2 in the 10th bowling 256 to end with 218. Huge 10th frame for our 5th seed. Dom Barrett is about to bowl 290 to all but lock himself onto the show.
Scores coming up soon and down to just the position round remaining.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: Big shake up in the standings! Dom Barrett has moved up to 4th place while Tom Smallwood bowls his way into the 5th slot. PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke has dropped all of the way down to 6th just 2 pins out of 5th. Mitch Beasley remains 29 pins off the while while Belmonte is just 33 out. Brad Angelo is in 10th place but only 48 off the show.
These last two games are going to be on fire. The position round will be must see TV!!
Get to your XtraFrame right now.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: And we have some serious action going into the last couple games. Dom Barrett had 197 game 5 and remains in 5th, but just barely. Belmonte continued his hot day by shooting 245 to climb within 5 pins of the show. Meanwhile PDW has dropped down to 4th, only 75 ahead of Belmo now. Tom Smallwood is only 9 pins out of 5th while Mitch Beasley and Marshall Kent are just 35 off the show.
Things are going to be fun these last few games.
Current top 5:
EJ Tackett
Tommy Jones
Norm Duke
PDW
Dom Barrett
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dom Barrett tosses 243 game 4 to extend his lead to 28 pins over the two players tied for 6th in Marshall Kent and Tom Smallwood. Meanwhile, Jason Belmonte shot 256 game 4 to pick up a few pins on Dom with just 4 games remaining.
Inside the top 5 Pete Weber jumps Tommy Jones to move into the #2 slot behind EJ Tackett. The top 5 bowlers remain the same guys but the position has jumbled a bit.
Current standings after 4:
EJ Tackett (Motiv)
Pete Weber (Storm)
Tommy Jones (Ebonite)
Norm Duke (Storm)
Dom Barrett (Track)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things are starting to tighten up at the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions as Dom Barrett is sitting just two pins ahead of Tom Smallwood for the final position for Sunday's ESPN telecast.
Smallwood, who just put up 280 game three today, is part of a pack that is making a charge towards the telecast.
Marshall Kent struggled game 2 but bounced back with 241 game three to get within 23 of the 5th spot while Jason Belmonte has put up games of 237, 246 and 247 this morning to pull himself closer to the stepladder as he now sits just 66 pins out.
Mitch Beasley and Sean Rash are both also within 70 pins of Barrett with 5 games left to go.
Who will we see on Sunday's telecast? Tune into XtraFrame to find out.
Current top five:
EJ Tackett
Tommy Jones
Pete Weber
Norm Duke
Dom Barrett
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Reviewing the 2/16 NBA 14 game slate
What a crazy night of NBA DFS.
There were several blowouts that caused some of my key players to get a reduced workload in the 4th quarter tonight.
The Spurs thrashed the Magic tonight so Kawhi, who got off to a hot start, ended up only playing 27 minutes which obviously crushed his value.
What is Orlando doing at this point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they traded Victor Oladipo and a pick to OKC for Ibaka ... then traded Ibaka and a pick for Terrence Ross and a worse pick. So, essentially they traded Oladipo for Terrence Ross and the right to move down in the draft? They shift Aaron Gordon to a position that he's clearly not cut out to play and basically turning a potential young star into a struggling role player. They should absolutely clear house on the front office people there before next season.
Speaking of a franchise that is currently in shambles, the Atlanta Hawks are one of the biggest Jekyll and Hyde teams I've ever seen. They look like world beaters one night and then they get run out of the gym by the Chris Paul-less Clippers. Tim Hardaway struggled through 28 minutes of unproductive basketball tonight as the Hawks lost by 16 to LA. I am not quite sure what is wrong with the Hawks, other than the fact that their bench is incredibly thin. I have watched a few games from ATL recently and I think Hardaway, Schroder and Milsap have a ton of potential while Dwight Howard has his dominant games and then disappears at times. It seems like if you don't get him going at the start of the night he may just sleepwalk through the entire game.
Damian Lillard was in a good spot again tonight but failed to deliver once again. He did get 35 minutes but the Blazers struggled to just 88 points while getting blasted by UTAH who put up 111 points. Utah ... put up .... 111. CJ McCollum played just 25 minutes and scored 18 pts with 2 rebounds and 4 fouls. On a bright note Jusuf Nurkic looked good in his first game with his new team as he scored 13 points with 7 rebounds an assist a block and 3 steals but 4 turnovers. I hope he gets some run with Portland to see if maybe he can live up to the potential that was expected of him in Denver.
The Kings were actually leading Golden State at halftime but managed to lose the game by 23. Draymond Green was booted from the game after just 15 minutes after receiving two technical fouls. Klay Thompson, once again, man-handled Sacramento by scoring 35 points with 5 rebounds, 4 assists 2 steals and hitting 7 of 12 3 point attempts. Kevin Durant looked like his old self tonight as he scored 21 points with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Fortunately I faded DeMarcus Cousins tonight and that worked out as he struggled through 23 minutes scoring 13 points. It was a rough game for Cousins and Darren Collison who has been playing a ridiculous amount of minutes while Ty Lawson has been out. The All Star break is coming at a perfect time for these guys.
I was admittedly very worried when the 76ers announced that Jahlil Okafor was back with the team and would suit up tonight vs the Celtics. Dario Saric was a staple on ALL of my teams tonight but I was not overly comfortable with this as Okafor was likely going to steal some his minutes and shot attempts. Early in the first half my worst fears were coming true as Dario was missing shots and hanging out on the bench for longer than I would like to have seen. Sadly Robert Covington, who was having a great game, had to go to the locker room after hitting his head and didn't return to the court. Dario was able to take advantage of this and once he got some consistent run he went right back to making the game look easy and he finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds a block and a steal. TJ McConnell continues to fly under the radar and quietly put up great fantasy numbers as again tonight he exceeded value by scoring 12 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. I am very curious to see if this team ends up moving Okafor and, if they do, what they get back for him.
A lot of the talking heads today really liked Marcus Smart's spot tonight so I took their word for it and it paid off as he had a fantastic game scoring 21 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, adding 1 block and 8 steals. Yes, you read that right, he had 8 steals but 6 turnovers. Kelly Olynk had another solid game and Isaiah Thomas stayed steady but was not spectacular in the Celts 116-108 victory. This was a fun game to watch and both of these teams have a bright future and could be very scary when healthy.
The Bucks and Nets combined for 254 points tonight. That's an incredible number that I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around. Brook Lopez went absolutely insane tonight scoring 36 points with 4 rebounds, an assist, 8 blocks, a steal and hitting 6 of out 10 3's. I am not sure what I'm more amazing with, him hitting 6 3's or having 8 blocks. Brook is not really known as a rim protector so that stat jumps off the page at me. Spencer Dinwiddle had a great game tonight as well contributing 19 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists.
For the Bucks side of the ball Giannis was his normal spectacular self but the most encouraging player in the game was easily Khris Middleton. Still working off the rust from the injury that kept him out the majority of the season to this point, Middleton exploded tonight for 20 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in just 26 minutes. As his minutes continue to climb we need to keep a close eye on his price as he is always a box score filler when healthy so he's certainly worth a look once his minute restriction is lifted. Greg Monroe continues to prove that he deserves the center job as he had another very solid game tonight but was out performed by his opposite number in Lopez. Malcolm Brogdon's numbers and minutes continue to decline since the return of Middleton. The Bucks are going to need him to get everything straightened out to help ease the pain of losing Jabari Parker for the season. Brogdon was a viable rookie of the year candidate last month and hopefully some rest over the break will rejuvenate him for a second half run.
Just to mention a couple other big games tonight from individual players:
Eric Bledsoe has broken out of his slump in a big way as tonight he destroyed the Lakers (point guards vs the Lakers is always a thing so hopefully you were on him tonight) as he tripled doubled with 25 pts, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
Is it even news anymore when Westbrook triple doubles? Well, he did it again tonight. 38 pts, 14 rebounds and 12 assists as he lead the Thunder to a great comeback victory over a Knicks team that looks like they're just completely lost and have no direction. I am not sure what they should do with that team but I am starting to think that either Rose and Carmelo need to go or Porzingis needs to go. I don't think the three can co-exist there.
Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins showed why Minnesota fans are excited about the future of this team as KAT put up 24 pts and 19 rebounds while Wiggins scored 40 points in their 112-99 beat down of the short-handed Denver Nuggets. I expected way more out of Ricky Rubio tonight and he struggled to the tune of 6 pts, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. He tends to put up duds in spots that I expect him to mash, so I wasn't too shocked when I saw his stat line tonight.
Nikola Jokic continues to impress putting up another double-double tonight with 15 pts, 14 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and 4 blocks. Jameer Nelson also double-doubled scoring 16 points and handing out 11 assists while also grabbing 7 rebounds. Mason Plumlee, fresh from Portalnd, drew the start in his first game in a Nuggets uniform and played 34 minutes scoring 11 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. I believe he will be a good hard-nosed work horse that can come in and give this young exciting team a little bit of an edge with his blue-collar attitude.
Dion Waiters resurrection has been incredible. He has been unstoppable when given the opportunity this year and he has seamlessly bounced back from his recent injury and gone right back to putting up big numbers. Tonight he scored 23 pts, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 7 assists as the Heat beat the Rockets 117-109. Hassan Whiteside looks to be healthy now and is back to being the dominant force in the middle that Miami fans have drawn accustom to. Tonight he completely dominated the Nene/Clint Capela duo to a tune of 23 pts, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks.
Speaking of dominant - is it news when James Harden triples doubles anymore? Well, he also did it again tonight as he and Westbrook continue to play "anything you can do I can do better". Harden tonight scored 38 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
Frank Kaminsky continues to be a great play at PF while Miles Plumlee and Cody Zeller are out. Frank completely smashed value tonight by scoring 27 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal. As long as Zeller and Plumlee are out I will keep firing Frank out into my lineups unless his price gets too high.
I can't forget Dirk busting out tonight with his double double as well. 24 points and 10 rebounds for this future hall of famer during tonight's super high scoring slate.
There were several blowouts that caused some of my key players to get a reduced workload in the 4th quarter tonight.
The Spurs thrashed the Magic tonight so Kawhi, who got off to a hot start, ended up only playing 27 minutes which obviously crushed his value.
What is Orlando doing at this point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they traded Victor Oladipo and a pick to OKC for Ibaka ... then traded Ibaka and a pick for Terrence Ross and a worse pick. So, essentially they traded Oladipo for Terrence Ross and the right to move down in the draft? They shift Aaron Gordon to a position that he's clearly not cut out to play and basically turning a potential young star into a struggling role player. They should absolutely clear house on the front office people there before next season.
Speaking of a franchise that is currently in shambles, the Atlanta Hawks are one of the biggest Jekyll and Hyde teams I've ever seen. They look like world beaters one night and then they get run out of the gym by the Chris Paul-less Clippers. Tim Hardaway struggled through 28 minutes of unproductive basketball tonight as the Hawks lost by 16 to LA. I am not quite sure what is wrong with the Hawks, other than the fact that their bench is incredibly thin. I have watched a few games from ATL recently and I think Hardaway, Schroder and Milsap have a ton of potential while Dwight Howard has his dominant games and then disappears at times. It seems like if you don't get him going at the start of the night he may just sleepwalk through the entire game.
Damian Lillard was in a good spot again tonight but failed to deliver once again. He did get 35 minutes but the Blazers struggled to just 88 points while getting blasted by UTAH who put up 111 points. Utah ... put up .... 111. CJ McCollum played just 25 minutes and scored 18 pts with 2 rebounds and 4 fouls. On a bright note Jusuf Nurkic looked good in his first game with his new team as he scored 13 points with 7 rebounds an assist a block and 3 steals but 4 turnovers. I hope he gets some run with Portland to see if maybe he can live up to the potential that was expected of him in Denver.
The Kings were actually leading Golden State at halftime but managed to lose the game by 23. Draymond Green was booted from the game after just 15 minutes after receiving two technical fouls. Klay Thompson, once again, man-handled Sacramento by scoring 35 points with 5 rebounds, 4 assists 2 steals and hitting 7 of 12 3 point attempts. Kevin Durant looked like his old self tonight as he scored 21 points with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Fortunately I faded DeMarcus Cousins tonight and that worked out as he struggled through 23 minutes scoring 13 points. It was a rough game for Cousins and Darren Collison who has been playing a ridiculous amount of minutes while Ty Lawson has been out. The All Star break is coming at a perfect time for these guys.
I was admittedly very worried when the 76ers announced that Jahlil Okafor was back with the team and would suit up tonight vs the Celtics. Dario Saric was a staple on ALL of my teams tonight but I was not overly comfortable with this as Okafor was likely going to steal some his minutes and shot attempts. Early in the first half my worst fears were coming true as Dario was missing shots and hanging out on the bench for longer than I would like to have seen. Sadly Robert Covington, who was having a great game, had to go to the locker room after hitting his head and didn't return to the court. Dario was able to take advantage of this and once he got some consistent run he went right back to making the game look easy and he finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds a block and a steal. TJ McConnell continues to fly under the radar and quietly put up great fantasy numbers as again tonight he exceeded value by scoring 12 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. I am very curious to see if this team ends up moving Okafor and, if they do, what they get back for him.
A lot of the talking heads today really liked Marcus Smart's spot tonight so I took their word for it and it paid off as he had a fantastic game scoring 21 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, adding 1 block and 8 steals. Yes, you read that right, he had 8 steals but 6 turnovers. Kelly Olynk had another solid game and Isaiah Thomas stayed steady but was not spectacular in the Celts 116-108 victory. This was a fun game to watch and both of these teams have a bright future and could be very scary when healthy.
The Bucks and Nets combined for 254 points tonight. That's an incredible number that I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around. Brook Lopez went absolutely insane tonight scoring 36 points with 4 rebounds, an assist, 8 blocks, a steal and hitting 6 of out 10 3's. I am not sure what I'm more amazing with, him hitting 6 3's or having 8 blocks. Brook is not really known as a rim protector so that stat jumps off the page at me. Spencer Dinwiddle had a great game tonight as well contributing 19 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists.
For the Bucks side of the ball Giannis was his normal spectacular self but the most encouraging player in the game was easily Khris Middleton. Still working off the rust from the injury that kept him out the majority of the season to this point, Middleton exploded tonight for 20 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in just 26 minutes. As his minutes continue to climb we need to keep a close eye on his price as he is always a box score filler when healthy so he's certainly worth a look once his minute restriction is lifted. Greg Monroe continues to prove that he deserves the center job as he had another very solid game tonight but was out performed by his opposite number in Lopez. Malcolm Brogdon's numbers and minutes continue to decline since the return of Middleton. The Bucks are going to need him to get everything straightened out to help ease the pain of losing Jabari Parker for the season. Brogdon was a viable rookie of the year candidate last month and hopefully some rest over the break will rejuvenate him for a second half run.
Just to mention a couple other big games tonight from individual players:
Eric Bledsoe has broken out of his slump in a big way as tonight he destroyed the Lakers (point guards vs the Lakers is always a thing so hopefully you were on him tonight) as he tripled doubled with 25 pts, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
Is it even news anymore when Westbrook triple doubles? Well, he did it again tonight. 38 pts, 14 rebounds and 12 assists as he lead the Thunder to a great comeback victory over a Knicks team that looks like they're just completely lost and have no direction. I am not sure what they should do with that team but I am starting to think that either Rose and Carmelo need to go or Porzingis needs to go. I don't think the three can co-exist there.
Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins showed why Minnesota fans are excited about the future of this team as KAT put up 24 pts and 19 rebounds while Wiggins scored 40 points in their 112-99 beat down of the short-handed Denver Nuggets. I expected way more out of Ricky Rubio tonight and he struggled to the tune of 6 pts, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. He tends to put up duds in spots that I expect him to mash, so I wasn't too shocked when I saw his stat line tonight.
Nikola Jokic continues to impress putting up another double-double tonight with 15 pts, 14 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and 4 blocks. Jameer Nelson also double-doubled scoring 16 points and handing out 11 assists while also grabbing 7 rebounds. Mason Plumlee, fresh from Portalnd, drew the start in his first game in a Nuggets uniform and played 34 minutes scoring 11 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. I believe he will be a good hard-nosed work horse that can come in and give this young exciting team a little bit of an edge with his blue-collar attitude.
Dion Waiters resurrection has been incredible. He has been unstoppable when given the opportunity this year and he has seamlessly bounced back from his recent injury and gone right back to putting up big numbers. Tonight he scored 23 pts, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 7 assists as the Heat beat the Rockets 117-109. Hassan Whiteside looks to be healthy now and is back to being the dominant force in the middle that Miami fans have drawn accustom to. Tonight he completely dominated the Nene/Clint Capela duo to a tune of 23 pts, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks.
Speaking of dominant - is it news when James Harden triples doubles anymore? Well, he also did it again tonight as he and Westbrook continue to play "anything you can do I can do better". Harden tonight scored 38 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
Frank Kaminsky continues to be a great play at PF while Miles Plumlee and Cody Zeller are out. Frank completely smashed value tonight by scoring 27 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal. As long as Zeller and Plumlee are out I will keep firing Frank out into my lineups unless his price gets too high.
I can't forget Dirk busting out tonight with his double double as well. 24 points and 10 rebounds for this future hall of famer during tonight's super high scoring slate.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Giving Yahoo DFS a shot tonight - HUGE slate of NBA games
I am always looking for different platforms to play on as the more options DFS players have, the better it will be for the industry.
One would think that Yahoo, and their super high user base, should be able to draw over a mix of sharks and casual players into their games -- and I'm interested in checking out how their games work.
For those that have not played you get a salary cap budget of $200 to fill the following positions:
PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, UTL.
I made a small deposit and will give you a quick run down in who I like tonight:
PG: TJ McConnell ($16) - McConnell has been on quite a roll lately along with another 76ers player I will have on this list in a bit. I am really hoping they keep Okafor off the floor tonight, even though I'm a fan of his, because it seems McConnell and Nerlens Noel have shown a great chemistry together and I would like to see this duo continue to own the majority of the minutes for Philly.
SG: Tim Hardaway Jr ($17) - This obviously hinges on Thabo's availability -- but lets be honest -- if Hardaway hasn't earned his starting job at this point I'm not sure what else he needs to do. He has absolutely taken over games in the 4th quarter recently and given the Hawks a young athletic guard to pair with the blazing quick Schroder.
G: Will Barton ($21) - The Nuggets are extremely short handed and Will Barton has been scorching hot since shouldering the offensive load for the team. Most everyone in the DFS world was locking Barton into their lineups tonight until the news that Wilson Chanlder may play now after previously being ruled out. I think this actually works out to my benefit here as Chandler may still not see a full allotment of minutes and, even if he plays 30 minutes, it's questionable how well he will be able to produce if he has this NBA flu that's been going around. Everyone is jumping ship off of Barton tonight and I think this lowers his ownership enough that I want more shares of him now.
SF: Kawhi Leonard ($45) - I will have to keep an eye on news as we get closer to lock tonight because you just never know when Pop will decide to sit his guys, especially giving them a little bit of a break heading into the All-Star game. If Kawhi does indeed play he is a lock and load for me tonight. Since Pau Gasol has been out Kawhi has absolutely taken over this team and he can flat do it all. The multiple time Defensive POY now has shown that he can score thus making him a dual threat that is a staple in all of my lineups tonight.
PF: Frank Kaminsky ($15) - Frank "the Tank" has been play some incredible ball since being inserted into the starting lineup. Tonight both Plumlee and Zeller have been ruled out again so Frank will get the lion's share of minutes for the Hornets vs a Raptors front court that is not exactly known for their defensive prowess and are also playing on the 2nd game of a back to back. At just $15 I think Frank is a great play at PF tonight.
F: Dario Saric ($13) - Dario has been absolutely on fire lately. Finally he is showing Philly fans why the front office drafted and waited on him to be ready to come join the NBA and he looks like he's starting to get comfortable with his surroundings. If Okafor ends up not playing Dario should see extended run again tonight and I feel is an absolute must play at just $13.
C: Mark Gasol ($34) - I am usually not a huge fan of looking at previous match-ups with teams/players because there are so many different underlying circumstances to each game, but Gasol has absolutely torched the Pelicans in recent history - so much so that I have to look his way. I was thinking of going Noel here and spending up at UTL but a) that gives me 3 Philly players, which is scary and b) Gasol is such a safe option with upside in a match that he's dominated in the past.
UTL: Paul George ($39) - There are a couple things going for PG13 here tonight: 1) LeBron has been getting destroyed on DEF lately and 2) The Cavs have been playing a large number of close games this season. This should allow Paul to stay on the court for an extended amount of minutes in what should be a high scoring up-paced game. He has easily been one of my top 3 least favorite players to use this season but I feel like I have to go back to him in this spot tonight.
So many options tonight so all of this is subject to change, but for now, this will be the lineup I'm firing out on Yahoo.
One would think that Yahoo, and their super high user base, should be able to draw over a mix of sharks and casual players into their games -- and I'm interested in checking out how their games work.
For those that have not played you get a salary cap budget of $200 to fill the following positions:
PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, UTL.
I made a small deposit and will give you a quick run down in who I like tonight:
PG: TJ McConnell ($16) - McConnell has been on quite a roll lately along with another 76ers player I will have on this list in a bit. I am really hoping they keep Okafor off the floor tonight, even though I'm a fan of his, because it seems McConnell and Nerlens Noel have shown a great chemistry together and I would like to see this duo continue to own the majority of the minutes for Philly.
SG: Tim Hardaway Jr ($17) - This obviously hinges on Thabo's availability -- but lets be honest -- if Hardaway hasn't earned his starting job at this point I'm not sure what else he needs to do. He has absolutely taken over games in the 4th quarter recently and given the Hawks a young athletic guard to pair with the blazing quick Schroder.
G: Will Barton ($21) - The Nuggets are extremely short handed and Will Barton has been scorching hot since shouldering the offensive load for the team. Most everyone in the DFS world was locking Barton into their lineups tonight until the news that Wilson Chanlder may play now after previously being ruled out. I think this actually works out to my benefit here as Chandler may still not see a full allotment of minutes and, even if he plays 30 minutes, it's questionable how well he will be able to produce if he has this NBA flu that's been going around. Everyone is jumping ship off of Barton tonight and I think this lowers his ownership enough that I want more shares of him now.
SF: Kawhi Leonard ($45) - I will have to keep an eye on news as we get closer to lock tonight because you just never know when Pop will decide to sit his guys, especially giving them a little bit of a break heading into the All-Star game. If Kawhi does indeed play he is a lock and load for me tonight. Since Pau Gasol has been out Kawhi has absolutely taken over this team and he can flat do it all. The multiple time Defensive POY now has shown that he can score thus making him a dual threat that is a staple in all of my lineups tonight.
PF: Frank Kaminsky ($15) - Frank "the Tank" has been play some incredible ball since being inserted into the starting lineup. Tonight both Plumlee and Zeller have been ruled out again so Frank will get the lion's share of minutes for the Hornets vs a Raptors front court that is not exactly known for their defensive prowess and are also playing on the 2nd game of a back to back. At just $15 I think Frank is a great play at PF tonight.
F: Dario Saric ($13) - Dario has been absolutely on fire lately. Finally he is showing Philly fans why the front office drafted and waited on him to be ready to come join the NBA and he looks like he's starting to get comfortable with his surroundings. If Okafor ends up not playing Dario should see extended run again tonight and I feel is an absolute must play at just $13.
C: Mark Gasol ($34) - I am usually not a huge fan of looking at previous match-ups with teams/players because there are so many different underlying circumstances to each game, but Gasol has absolutely torched the Pelicans in recent history - so much so that I have to look his way. I was thinking of going Noel here and spending up at UTL but a) that gives me 3 Philly players, which is scary and b) Gasol is such a safe option with upside in a match that he's dominated in the past.
UTL: Paul George ($39) - There are a couple things going for PG13 here tonight: 1) LeBron has been getting destroyed on DEF lately and 2) The Cavs have been playing a large number of close games this season. This should allow Paul to stay on the court for an extended amount of minutes in what should be a high scoring up-paced game. He has easily been one of my top 3 least favorite players to use this season but I feel like I have to go back to him in this spot tonight.
So many options tonight so all of this is subject to change, but for now, this will be the lineup I'm firing out on Yahoo.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Early morning thoughts on NBA DFS
What a frustrating night of DFS.
I can sum it up pretty quickly:
a) Jimmy Butler ruined a good share of my lineups right off the bat.
b) I picked the wrong PG in Sacramento (Collison did fine but Lawson was the pick. A lot of people took both and I clearly should've considered the same).
c) I picked the wrong SF in Phoenix (went with Chriss instead of TJ Warren)
d) I didn't have nearly enough Jokic. I had a few shares of him but was afraid to fire him back into my lineups coming back from injury last night.
e) Mudiay tanked.
f) RHJ struggled.
g) LeVert got the start and tons of minutes but put up a dud.
h) Myles Turner continues to make my scratch my head at why he's not dominating games
That's enough, you get my point. Onward and upward.
Early thoughts on tonight's games:
I will likely be playing a lot of cash games tonight while I tinker with my tournament strategy.
A quick look at the schedule has me noticing a couple things that I will be factoring into my roster creations today.
No team that plays today has a game tomorrow.
Denver is on a B2B and this is their 4th game in 5 nights. There are a billion questions here. Will Jokic get a full allotment of minutes after just returning from injury? Which of the Nuggets' injured players will return tonight? Want a recipe for a blowout? I have one for you: a banged up Nuggets team that likes to run up and down the court will play @ San Antonio tonight. This one could get out of hand quickly.
Orlando is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. How will that effect Evan Fournier, who is coming back from injury?
Detroit is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. With Ish Smith continuing to see an increase in minutes, is this a spot to fire him into my few GPP lineups?
Indiana is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. So both sides of the ball will be a bit tired in this game. This may make for a sloppy offensive game so I may look at getting someone like Drummond that could grab all of the rebounds after each shot clanks off the iron. He has only played 29 and 26 minutes in each of the last two games, so he shouldn't be overly exhausted tonight.
Memphis in on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. This is one where I'll have to pay attention close to roster lock. I would not be surprised to see one of Gasol, Conley or Z-Bo sitting this game out.
Minnesota is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. Not super concerned about this one, as they are a pretty young team .. but if you're deciding on a roster spot between two players and one of them is playing for the 3rd time in 4 nights and traveled all 3 games you may want to factor that in.
Milwaukee is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. Another young team that this shouldn't make much of a difference but worth noting. The big thing for the Bucks will be who Kidd decides to run out there at the C position. If Henson gets another start I will be locking him in, though I have to believe that Monroe is a better match up vs the up and down pace of the Suns.
Phoenix is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. Speaking of the Suns, they also are playing for the 3rd time in 4 nights. I would think this will slow Chandler down just a little thus making me like whomever Milwaukee starts at center even more.
Golden State is playing their 3rd in 4 nights. Honestly, this doesn't matter much. The starters usually are rested throughout the game and they do not play tomorrow, but I still wanted to make note.
Philadelphis is playing their 3rd in 4 nights. Is Embiid going to give it a run tonight or shall we throw Ilyasova out there again tonight?
Sacramento is on the back end of a B2B. Again, doesn't matter a huge amount. Boogie has proven in the past that he's just fine on B2B games and he's the biggest cog in this game. Lawson and Collison are both in play again tonight as well as Matt Barnes assuming Temple and Afflalo are out again for this one.
Notable things to look for tonight:
Will Rose play for the Knicks? Brandon Jennings price continues to rise but he has been very solid while starting for the injured Rose. Will Hernangomez continue to get minutes? He has produced each time he's been given the chance, which is why I'm still puzzled at him getting 4 minutes in a quadruple over time game earlier in the week. Is Porzingis back to game form? He looked like it in their last outing so I will giving him a shot tonight.
Who draws the start at C for Milwaukee?
Will the Magic rest Fournier tonight and force me to play Payton?
Will Jokic start tonight and, if so, will he be on any minutes restriction?
Dwight Howard revenge game twice in one week?
Does Embiid play tonight or is another Okafor/Ilyasova night?
How will Frank Kaminsky handle getting the start at C tonight vs the Jazz?
Early players I am high on:
LeBron James: All eyes are on LeBron now as he has called out his team, his GM and Charles Barkley. As a player who loves the spotlight, this is a time for LeBron to show what he can do on the court to shut up all of the noise going on off the court. Factor in the fact that he's playing in Madison Square Garden tonight and I fully expect something big.
Rudy Gobert: Bigs vs the Hornets was "a thing" anyway, but with Kaminsky starting at the 5 I just do not see anyone that will be able to out rebound Gobert. I could see a 20/20 night in the making for him this evening.
Dwight Howard: Howard proved earlier in the week that he can still get motivated to show flashes of his former self, and he loves sticking it to his old teams. The Hawks face the Magic tonight and I expect Dwight to come out ready to play tonight.
Tim Hardaway Jr: Not only am I interested in Tim because of his breakout game earlier in the week vs the Rockets, but at his price he is a solid start if he draws the start. His matchup tonight vs the Magic isn't nearly as enticing as his previous one vs Houston, but I will still have my fair share of him tonight if he starts.
James Johnson: Everyone is starting to get healthy for Miami so I think Johnson will go overlooked on tonight's slate. In his last four games he has put up 31.5, 39, 41.5 and 33.5 DK points and I do not see that slowing down tonight vs the undermanned 76ers team.
Also in play for me are Marcin Gortat, Porzingis, Hernangomez and Goran Dragic.
I can sum it up pretty quickly:
a) Jimmy Butler ruined a good share of my lineups right off the bat.
b) I picked the wrong PG in Sacramento (Collison did fine but Lawson was the pick. A lot of people took both and I clearly should've considered the same).
c) I picked the wrong SF in Phoenix (went with Chriss instead of TJ Warren)
d) I didn't have nearly enough Jokic. I had a few shares of him but was afraid to fire him back into my lineups coming back from injury last night.
e) Mudiay tanked.
f) RHJ struggled.
g) LeVert got the start and tons of minutes but put up a dud.
h) Myles Turner continues to make my scratch my head at why he's not dominating games
That's enough, you get my point. Onward and upward.
Early thoughts on tonight's games:
I will likely be playing a lot of cash games tonight while I tinker with my tournament strategy.
A quick look at the schedule has me noticing a couple things that I will be factoring into my roster creations today.
No team that plays today has a game tomorrow.
Denver is on a B2B and this is their 4th game in 5 nights. There are a billion questions here. Will Jokic get a full allotment of minutes after just returning from injury? Which of the Nuggets' injured players will return tonight? Want a recipe for a blowout? I have one for you: a banged up Nuggets team that likes to run up and down the court will play @ San Antonio tonight. This one could get out of hand quickly.
Orlando is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. How will that effect Evan Fournier, who is coming back from injury?
Detroit is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. With Ish Smith continuing to see an increase in minutes, is this a spot to fire him into my few GPP lineups?
Indiana is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. So both sides of the ball will be a bit tired in this game. This may make for a sloppy offensive game so I may look at getting someone like Drummond that could grab all of the rebounds after each shot clanks off the iron. He has only played 29 and 26 minutes in each of the last two games, so he shouldn't be overly exhausted tonight.
Memphis in on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. This is one where I'll have to pay attention close to roster lock. I would not be surprised to see one of Gasol, Conley or Z-Bo sitting this game out.
Minnesota is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. Not super concerned about this one, as they are a pretty young team .. but if you're deciding on a roster spot between two players and one of them is playing for the 3rd time in 4 nights and traveled all 3 games you may want to factor that in.
Milwaukee is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. Another young team that this shouldn't make much of a difference but worth noting. The big thing for the Bucks will be who Kidd decides to run out there at the C position. If Henson gets another start I will be locking him in, though I have to believe that Monroe is a better match up vs the up and down pace of the Suns.
Phoenix is on a B2B and this is their 3rd game in 4 nights. Speaking of the Suns, they also are playing for the 3rd time in 4 nights. I would think this will slow Chandler down just a little thus making me like whomever Milwaukee starts at center even more.
Golden State is playing their 3rd in 4 nights. Honestly, this doesn't matter much. The starters usually are rested throughout the game and they do not play tomorrow, but I still wanted to make note.
Philadelphis is playing their 3rd in 4 nights. Is Embiid going to give it a run tonight or shall we throw Ilyasova out there again tonight?
Sacramento is on the back end of a B2B. Again, doesn't matter a huge amount. Boogie has proven in the past that he's just fine on B2B games and he's the biggest cog in this game. Lawson and Collison are both in play again tonight as well as Matt Barnes assuming Temple and Afflalo are out again for this one.
Notable things to look for tonight:
Will Rose play for the Knicks? Brandon Jennings price continues to rise but he has been very solid while starting for the injured Rose. Will Hernangomez continue to get minutes? He has produced each time he's been given the chance, which is why I'm still puzzled at him getting 4 minutes in a quadruple over time game earlier in the week. Is Porzingis back to game form? He looked like it in their last outing so I will giving him a shot tonight.
Who draws the start at C for Milwaukee?
Will the Magic rest Fournier tonight and force me to play Payton?
Will Jokic start tonight and, if so, will he be on any minutes restriction?
Dwight Howard revenge game twice in one week?
Does Embiid play tonight or is another Okafor/Ilyasova night?
How will Frank Kaminsky handle getting the start at C tonight vs the Jazz?
Early players I am high on:
LeBron James: All eyes are on LeBron now as he has called out his team, his GM and Charles Barkley. As a player who loves the spotlight, this is a time for LeBron to show what he can do on the court to shut up all of the noise going on off the court. Factor in the fact that he's playing in Madison Square Garden tonight and I fully expect something big.
Rudy Gobert: Bigs vs the Hornets was "a thing" anyway, but with Kaminsky starting at the 5 I just do not see anyone that will be able to out rebound Gobert. I could see a 20/20 night in the making for him this evening.
Dwight Howard: Howard proved earlier in the week that he can still get motivated to show flashes of his former self, and he loves sticking it to his old teams. The Hawks face the Magic tonight and I expect Dwight to come out ready to play tonight.
Tim Hardaway Jr: Not only am I interested in Tim because of his breakout game earlier in the week vs the Rockets, but at his price he is a solid start if he draws the start. His matchup tonight vs the Magic isn't nearly as enticing as his previous one vs Houston, but I will still have my fair share of him tonight if he starts.
James Johnson: Everyone is starting to get healthy for Miami so I think Johnson will go overlooked on tonight's slate. In his last four games he has put up 31.5, 39, 41.5 and 33.5 DK points and I do not see that slowing down tonight vs the undermanned 76ers team.
Also in play for me are Marcin Gortat, Porzingis, Hernangomez and Goran Dragic.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Four game Thursday for NBA DFS
Well it has been quite the up and down week of NBA DFS. Early in the week I made a bit of a fun run in a 30,000 person GPP before falling a little short but the last couple of days have been small loss or break even nights.
Thursday brings us a small four game slate with a couple fun games and a couple snoozers.
Granted, any game can have its share of great plays just like any high total game can have a star tank, but I think I'll game stack two of these games and then throw a couple mix and match lineups in and be done with it.
Here are my late night/early morning thoughts on the first game on the slate:
Los Angeles Lakers @ Washington Wizards
D'Angelo Russell came back from his injury on Tuesday and put up 51.25 DK points playing 34 minutes against the Denver Nuggets scoring 22 real life points to go with 7 rebounds and a career high 10 assists. His price on DK is still at $5,700 which is extremely low IF he is going to get his full amount of minutes again. There is a very good chance I start all of my lineups with Russell on Thursday night.
Ivica Zubac is starting to emerge as the big man to own on the Lakers. In Tuesday night's game it looked for a while as though Zubac had moved back to the end of the bench as both Tarik Black and Timofey Mozgov both were playing well and stealing all of the minutes. Low and behold, when it came down to crunch time, Zubac was the man that coach Walton trusted on the court and he did not disappoint, scoring a career high (yes, it's early in his career) 17 points and putting up 25.5 DK points. In the three games since he has been getting minutes Zubac has scored 25.5, 31.5 and 33 DK point respectively. At just $3,900 I truly believe Zubac will be one of the highest owned players on tonight's slate.
Lou Williams is better, in my opinion, coming off of the bench so the return of Russell is great for his fantasy perspectives. Most fantasy players will look away from him if he isn't start, but I actually like him a lot more coming off the bench and leading the second unit. Tuesday's game Williams played 24 minutes but took 11 shots and put up 43.25 DK points. I'm a little worried about him matching up against Bradley Beal in spots, but for just $5,700 I will throw him into a few lineups for sure.
John Wall is in a fantastic spot against a Lakers team that severely struggles stopping guards but man his price is HIGH. He should have little to no problem reaching 50+ DK points but are you willing to spend such a huge chunk of your salary on just one guy? It may be worth the gamble in hopes that LA can keep this game close and he gets a full allotment of minutes and if you're game stacking this one then he's a must play. Otherwise, choose your spots wisely.
Bradley Beal continues to produce and his price continues to rise as he now sits at $7,000 on DK. As mentioned in the previous Wizards player, the Lakers have a hard time slowing down guards and Beal has been playing very well of late. He has reached 5x (or close) 5 of his last 6 games and I don't see that slow down tonight. He will be in my cash game lineups but I'm just not sure there is enough upside to be a great GPP play. Again, game stack player - sure - but otherwise I may not have much of him in other GPP lineups.
Kelly Oubre Jr is the cheap guy I like for Washington in this game. Call me crazy, but his minutes has been solid of late and there is a chance the Wizards blow this game out early and Oubre gets to stay on the court and be the main source of offense. His is a very athletic young player that has the ability to shine under the right circumstances and I believe tonight, for GPPs, is a good spot for him to do just that.
Since we are getting late (updating at 5:40pm) I am just going to mention a few more players I like tonight:
Dwight Howard in a revenge game against a Rockets team that he was less than thrilled with while playing there. Facing the revolving door of centers in Houston Howard is in a great spot in theory tonight. Unfortunately, as we have seen many times in the DFS world, theory doesn't mean fact. The Hawks have been absolutely horrible recently and have put up some serious stinkers in the last couple of weeks. In what should be an up-tempo fast paced game one would have to believe the ATL players should have the chance to have great fantasy games and at just $6,900 on DK I am a fan of Howard as one of my cash game guys tonight.
Dennis Schroder will be in a lot of my GPP lineups, but maybe not cash tonight. He has either thrived or tanked in recent weeks (seems to be the same as the rest of this team) so I can't trust him in cash games facing Patrick Beverley defense but at $6,400 I could see him getting 7 or 8x tonight in this potential shootout.
Steph Curry came back after missing the Warriors' previous game with an illness and put on a sick show against the Hornets last night (see what I did there). The only thing that worries me here is playing on a back to back after having the NBA flu just a couple nights ago. With this being a late game we can't really wait for news on if he's for sure playing but if you're confident that he's going to play then he's a great play tonight in all formats. $8,900 on DK and he has been showing flashes of his old MVP form so that price is a steal at the moment.
Kawhi Leonard could be the highest scoring player on tonight slate assuming the 76ers can find a way to make this game competitive. Leonard's usage rate goes through the roof when LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol are not on the court, which will be the case tonight. Kawhi could be in line for a major game but this one could get out of control pretty quickly as the 76ers are playing without Embiid.
Dewayne Dedmon was in play for me before I heard Aldridge was out so now I will have a bit more of him in my GPPs. I never seem to get David Lee right as he scores about 10 when I start him but 30 when I don't, so I will just avoid him and save myself the headache. At $3,500 I will throw Dedmon into a few GPP lineups tonight as he should be in line for some time on the floor tonight and he seems to produce well when he gets the chance. If this game gets ugly he will see even more time and without Embiid to worry about I like Dewayne's spot here.
Dario Saric did all he could last night to crush me in my games but a garbage time run got him back to value when the final buzzer went off. Embiid is out and Covington is healthy tonight for Philadelphia so Saric should continue to see 20+ minutes on the court. He has shown flashes of the ability to be an offensive weapon and should get the late run if this game blows out. I will have him in several lineups tonight but won't go too over-board.
Well folks, that's all for tonight. With just under an hour to lock please hit me up with any questions you may have and good luck!
Thursday brings us a small four game slate with a couple fun games and a couple snoozers.
Granted, any game can have its share of great plays just like any high total game can have a star tank, but I think I'll game stack two of these games and then throw a couple mix and match lineups in and be done with it.
Here are my late night/early morning thoughts on the first game on the slate:
Los Angeles Lakers @ Washington Wizards
D'Angelo Russell came back from his injury on Tuesday and put up 51.25 DK points playing 34 minutes against the Denver Nuggets scoring 22 real life points to go with 7 rebounds and a career high 10 assists. His price on DK is still at $5,700 which is extremely low IF he is going to get his full amount of minutes again. There is a very good chance I start all of my lineups with Russell on Thursday night.
Ivica Zubac is starting to emerge as the big man to own on the Lakers. In Tuesday night's game it looked for a while as though Zubac had moved back to the end of the bench as both Tarik Black and Timofey Mozgov both were playing well and stealing all of the minutes. Low and behold, when it came down to crunch time, Zubac was the man that coach Walton trusted on the court and he did not disappoint, scoring a career high (yes, it's early in his career) 17 points and putting up 25.5 DK points. In the three games since he has been getting minutes Zubac has scored 25.5, 31.5 and 33 DK point respectively. At just $3,900 I truly believe Zubac will be one of the highest owned players on tonight's slate.
Lou Williams is better, in my opinion, coming off of the bench so the return of Russell is great for his fantasy perspectives. Most fantasy players will look away from him if he isn't start, but I actually like him a lot more coming off the bench and leading the second unit. Tuesday's game Williams played 24 minutes but took 11 shots and put up 43.25 DK points. I'm a little worried about him matching up against Bradley Beal in spots, but for just $5,700 I will throw him into a few lineups for sure.
John Wall is in a fantastic spot against a Lakers team that severely struggles stopping guards but man his price is HIGH. He should have little to no problem reaching 50+ DK points but are you willing to spend such a huge chunk of your salary on just one guy? It may be worth the gamble in hopes that LA can keep this game close and he gets a full allotment of minutes and if you're game stacking this one then he's a must play. Otherwise, choose your spots wisely.
Bradley Beal continues to produce and his price continues to rise as he now sits at $7,000 on DK. As mentioned in the previous Wizards player, the Lakers have a hard time slowing down guards and Beal has been playing very well of late. He has reached 5x (or close) 5 of his last 6 games and I don't see that slow down tonight. He will be in my cash game lineups but I'm just not sure there is enough upside to be a great GPP play. Again, game stack player - sure - but otherwise I may not have much of him in other GPP lineups.
Kelly Oubre Jr is the cheap guy I like for Washington in this game. Call me crazy, but his minutes has been solid of late and there is a chance the Wizards blow this game out early and Oubre gets to stay on the court and be the main source of offense. His is a very athletic young player that has the ability to shine under the right circumstances and I believe tonight, for GPPs, is a good spot for him to do just that.
Since we are getting late (updating at 5:40pm) I am just going to mention a few more players I like tonight:
Dwight Howard in a revenge game against a Rockets team that he was less than thrilled with while playing there. Facing the revolving door of centers in Houston Howard is in a great spot in theory tonight. Unfortunately, as we have seen many times in the DFS world, theory doesn't mean fact. The Hawks have been absolutely horrible recently and have put up some serious stinkers in the last couple of weeks. In what should be an up-tempo fast paced game one would have to believe the ATL players should have the chance to have great fantasy games and at just $6,900 on DK I am a fan of Howard as one of my cash game guys tonight.
Dennis Schroder will be in a lot of my GPP lineups, but maybe not cash tonight. He has either thrived or tanked in recent weeks (seems to be the same as the rest of this team) so I can't trust him in cash games facing Patrick Beverley defense but at $6,400 I could see him getting 7 or 8x tonight in this potential shootout.
Steph Curry came back after missing the Warriors' previous game with an illness and put on a sick show against the Hornets last night (see what I did there). The only thing that worries me here is playing on a back to back after having the NBA flu just a couple nights ago. With this being a late game we can't really wait for news on if he's for sure playing but if you're confident that he's going to play then he's a great play tonight in all formats. $8,900 on DK and he has been showing flashes of his old MVP form so that price is a steal at the moment.
Kawhi Leonard could be the highest scoring player on tonight slate assuming the 76ers can find a way to make this game competitive. Leonard's usage rate goes through the roof when LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol are not on the court, which will be the case tonight. Kawhi could be in line for a major game but this one could get out of control pretty quickly as the 76ers are playing without Embiid.
Dewayne Dedmon was in play for me before I heard Aldridge was out so now I will have a bit more of him in my GPPs. I never seem to get David Lee right as he scores about 10 when I start him but 30 when I don't, so I will just avoid him and save myself the headache. At $3,500 I will throw Dedmon into a few GPP lineups tonight as he should be in line for some time on the floor tonight and he seems to produce well when he gets the chance. If this game gets ugly he will see even more time and without Embiid to worry about I like Dewayne's spot here.
Dario Saric did all he could last night to crush me in my games but a garbage time run got him back to value when the final buzzer went off. Embiid is out and Covington is healthy tonight for Philadelphia so Saric should continue to see 20+ minutes on the court. He has shown flashes of the ability to be an offensive weapon and should get the late run if this game blows out. I will have him in several lineups tonight but won't go too over-board.
Well folks, that's all for tonight. With just under an hour to lock please hit me up with any questions you may have and good luck!
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
WrestleMania Season hits a snag ... but there are more problems than that
There is still some question around the twitter world on if the Seth Rollins injury is a shoot or a work, but it sure seems like a legit issue.
It would be devastating if Rollins, arguably the best pure wrestler and most over face on RAW right now, is forced to miss WrestleMania for a second year in a row.
The feud with HHH had been slowly gaining steam before Seth's appearance at NxT Takeover which was completely unexpected and took the rivalry to a whole other level.
Monday Night RAW saw HHH come out and cut a very intense and well performed promo before calling Rollins down to the ring to meet "his destroyer", which we all now know was the only and only Samoa Joe.
Unfortunately, as it seems at the time of this blog post, when Joe was taking him to the mat with the Coquina Clutch it looked as though Seth's leg buckled and, as we hear now, re-injured the right-knee of the "Architect".
If you haven't re-watched the slow-mo videos of this finish, you should. Pay close attention to the words exchanged between the two superstars.
Multiple reports are saying that it appears to go like this:
Joe: "Are you ok?"
Seth: "I hope so."
And with that, we now wait to find out how significant this injury will be and whether or not this takes Seth off of the card for the "Grand Daddy of them All" for the second consecutive year.
Now let me be honest, I have been and will always be a big HHH mark. I'm just a fan of his in-ring psychology as well as his "holier than thou" promos --- but I was torn about him working 'Mania this year.
On one side, the last time he worked this event it was a slow moving horrible match that needed several spots of outside interference to make it watchable.
That match was vs the Icon Sting, who was severely out of shape and really was showing his age.
This match would have been against one of the best in-ring technicians in the industry and likely could have been a high quality match with some incredible story telling.
One can only hope that this injury does not derail one of the sure fire main matches of WrestleMania.
That being said, I have a big of a problem with a few of the other rumored matches for the card.
First we'll go with Goldberg vs Lesnar.
In a vacuum this match would be fine for what it is. Two legends and two monsters facing off in what is sure to be a hard hitting and brutal fight that fans everywhere would like to see.
The problem is ... they've faced off twice now since November and Goldberg has bested The Beast both times without breaking a sweat.
If we are to believe that they are even attempting to make this believable, why would Goldberg agree to fight Brock again? What good would it do him?
This would be the definition of a match where "nothing to be gained". If Goldberg goes out and loses to Brock what does that prove? Brock was still manhandled twice previously (actually 3 times if you count that debacle of a match they had at WrestleMania 20) so what would this single victory really do to make up for those? If Goldberg wins how do they ever bring Lesnar's character back to the level of intimidation and dominance that he once was?
And without that gimmick, what is he exactly? If he's not the Beast, then he's just another guy...
The only way I can see this match making sense is the following:
Goldberg takes on Kevin Owens at Fastlane for the Universal Championship. We have all seen that Goldberg has his son and wife in the front row when he works during this most recent return.
We could see Lesnar come out during the title match, go over to Goldberg's son and flash that evil grin he's famous for, thus distracting the challenger and costing him his chance to win the belt while also goading him into the re-match?
That or the potential "career vs career" match that we sometimes see in these situations, but I can't imagine they'd have Goldberg end his career by losing on the grand stage of Mania.
Speaking of "why would wrestler A give wrestler B another chance", my other problem with the rumored card would be (c) Charlotte defending against everyone's favorite hugger Bayley.
If they were considering this match for WrestleMania then they maybe should have made Bayley look like a formidable opponent at the Royal Rumble.
Instead we got what might as well have been a squash match.
Bayley looked completely outmatched and dominated in a spot that they could have given her the chance to show her talents but come up just a little short.
Granted they did give her the pin the following night in the 6 person mixed tag match over the champ, but what does that prove? That she can steal a pin in a match with the assistance of other teammates?
I have to wonder .. are we all looking one way while the WWE plans something completely different for us?
If you pay attention to the commentary during the Royal Rumble Michael Cole and Corey Graves repeatedly mention how dominant Charlotte's been at PPVs and it is hard to ignore how strong she has been booked since first winning the title.
Yes, I know, she has lost the title on more than one occasion to Sasha Banks, but go back and watch those. Even when she lost it was usually because she became over-confident and lost focus, not because she was just beaten.
Are they building up the unbeatable champ for WrestleMania to have Bayley pin her clean and thus, in turn, make Bayley the new Daniel Bryan ...
or....
Are we as fans all looking towards that match when what we actually will see is a Bayley vs (heel) Sasha Banks at WrestleMania (in what could be a show stealing match) while the WWE is building towards a "unbeatable" Charlotte vs "unbeatable" Asuka program?
Could the two most dominant women in the WWE be on a collision course and meet each other in one of the main spots at the biggest show of the year?
As big as a Bayley fan as I am, a potential Charlotte v Asuka match has me very excited.
For those of you who do not know who Asuka is or have never seen her in action do yourself a favor and head over to youtube now and check out a few of her matches. You can thank me later.
It would be devastating if Rollins, arguably the best pure wrestler and most over face on RAW right now, is forced to miss WrestleMania for a second year in a row.
The feud with HHH had been slowly gaining steam before Seth's appearance at NxT Takeover which was completely unexpected and took the rivalry to a whole other level.
Monday Night RAW saw HHH come out and cut a very intense and well performed promo before calling Rollins down to the ring to meet "his destroyer", which we all now know was the only and only Samoa Joe.
Unfortunately, as it seems at the time of this blog post, when Joe was taking him to the mat with the Coquina Clutch it looked as though Seth's leg buckled and, as we hear now, re-injured the right-knee of the "Architect".
If you haven't re-watched the slow-mo videos of this finish, you should. Pay close attention to the words exchanged between the two superstars.
Multiple reports are saying that it appears to go like this:
Joe: "Are you ok?"
Seth: "I hope so."
And with that, we now wait to find out how significant this injury will be and whether or not this takes Seth off of the card for the "Grand Daddy of them All" for the second consecutive year.
Now let me be honest, I have been and will always be a big HHH mark. I'm just a fan of his in-ring psychology as well as his "holier than thou" promos --- but I was torn about him working 'Mania this year.
On one side, the last time he worked this event it was a slow moving horrible match that needed several spots of outside interference to make it watchable.
That match was vs the Icon Sting, who was severely out of shape and really was showing his age.
This match would have been against one of the best in-ring technicians in the industry and likely could have been a high quality match with some incredible story telling.
One can only hope that this injury does not derail one of the sure fire main matches of WrestleMania.
That being said, I have a big of a problem with a few of the other rumored matches for the card.
First we'll go with Goldberg vs Lesnar.
In a vacuum this match would be fine for what it is. Two legends and two monsters facing off in what is sure to be a hard hitting and brutal fight that fans everywhere would like to see.
The problem is ... they've faced off twice now since November and Goldberg has bested The Beast both times without breaking a sweat.
If we are to believe that they are even attempting to make this believable, why would Goldberg agree to fight Brock again? What good would it do him?
This would be the definition of a match where "nothing to be gained". If Goldberg goes out and loses to Brock what does that prove? Brock was still manhandled twice previously (actually 3 times if you count that debacle of a match they had at WrestleMania 20) so what would this single victory really do to make up for those? If Goldberg wins how do they ever bring Lesnar's character back to the level of intimidation and dominance that he once was?
And without that gimmick, what is he exactly? If he's not the Beast, then he's just another guy...
The only way I can see this match making sense is the following:
Goldberg takes on Kevin Owens at Fastlane for the Universal Championship. We have all seen that Goldberg has his son and wife in the front row when he works during this most recent return.
We could see Lesnar come out during the title match, go over to Goldberg's son and flash that evil grin he's famous for, thus distracting the challenger and costing him his chance to win the belt while also goading him into the re-match?
That or the potential "career vs career" match that we sometimes see in these situations, but I can't imagine they'd have Goldberg end his career by losing on the grand stage of Mania.
Speaking of "why would wrestler A give wrestler B another chance", my other problem with the rumored card would be (c) Charlotte defending against everyone's favorite hugger Bayley.
If they were considering this match for WrestleMania then they maybe should have made Bayley look like a formidable opponent at the Royal Rumble.
Instead we got what might as well have been a squash match.
Bayley looked completely outmatched and dominated in a spot that they could have given her the chance to show her talents but come up just a little short.
Granted they did give her the pin the following night in the 6 person mixed tag match over the champ, but what does that prove? That she can steal a pin in a match with the assistance of other teammates?
I have to wonder .. are we all looking one way while the WWE plans something completely different for us?
If you pay attention to the commentary during the Royal Rumble Michael Cole and Corey Graves repeatedly mention how dominant Charlotte's been at PPVs and it is hard to ignore how strong she has been booked since first winning the title.
Yes, I know, she has lost the title on more than one occasion to Sasha Banks, but go back and watch those. Even when she lost it was usually because she became over-confident and lost focus, not because she was just beaten.
Are they building up the unbeatable champ for WrestleMania to have Bayley pin her clean and thus, in turn, make Bayley the new Daniel Bryan ...
or....
Are we as fans all looking towards that match when what we actually will see is a Bayley vs (heel) Sasha Banks at WrestleMania (in what could be a show stealing match) while the WWE is building towards a "unbeatable" Charlotte vs "unbeatable" Asuka program?
Could the two most dominant women in the WWE be on a collision course and meet each other in one of the main spots at the biggest show of the year?
As big as a Bayley fan as I am, a potential Charlotte v Asuka match has me very excited.
For those of you who do not know who Asuka is or have never seen her in action do yourself a favor and head over to youtube now and check out a few of her matches. You can thank me later.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Cincinnati Reds Preview #1
As a huge baseball fan, I simply can't wait for the upcoming season to begin. As we move closer to Opening Day I will attempt to write some small articles on different pieces of the teams I follow. Here is my first installment. Please let me know what you think:
The Cincinnati Reds showed signs of life in what was
supposed to be a dreary and hard to watch 2016 season.
Players like Adam Duvall and Jose Peraza helped give Reds
fans a glimmer of hope for the future and future Hall of Fame 1st
baseman Joey Votto showed that he is not ready to call it quits just yet.
A lot of every day fans of the team may have been scratching
their heads after the trade of Dan Straily, who lead the team last season in
wins; strikeouts as well as innings pitched.
Admittedly I was a little taken a-back when I first heard the news as
well. That being said, once I heard the
haul they got in return, I was absolutely thrilled.
In return for the veteran Straily the Reds picked up right-handed
pitching prospects Luis Castillo and Austin Brice from the Miami Marlins along
with outfielder Isaiah White.
Castillo, the highlight of the package Cincinnati received,
was rated as Miami’s number 5 prospect according MLB.com and has been known to
hit triple digits with his blazing fastball.
To fill the spot in the rotation that once belonged to the
aforementioned Straily the Reds promptly went out and signed veteran free agent
pitcher Scott Feldman.
Feldman, who split time between the Houston Astros and
Toronto Blue Jays, is nearly a .500 pitcher for his career and should be able
to slide into the back end of the Cincinnati rotation and give the
Reds a
veteran presence to help bring along some of his younger teammates.
The rotation still has some question marks for the 2017
season but holds an abundance of potential if the returning members can stay healthy
and improve on last year’s efforts.
Anthony DeSclafani had a breakout season in 2016 and should,
in my opinion, get the ball for Opening Day.
DeSclafani is followed by a returning Homer Bailey who is hoping to be
ready for Spring Training this year.
After Bailey things start to get a little questionable.
Brandon Finnegan showed some flashes of brilliance last
season but when he was bad, he was very bad.
I still believe he is better suited for the back-end of the bullpen, but
that is an argument for another day.
Cody Reed could use a little more seasoning but each time
they have sent him to AAA Louisville he has absolutely dominated the
competition. He has to find a way to
transition that ability to the majors and find a way to get big league hitters
out consistently.
Cincinnati also has two bright prospects in the minors that
could make their mark on the big league squad sooner rather than later.
Both Robert Stephenson and Amir Garrett have the kind of
ability that could eventually see them as the #1 and #2 starters on this team
for many years to come. Combining those
two with the newly acquired Luis Castillo and Cincinnati fans have a lot to be
excited about in terms of the future rotation possibilities.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Thursday night 4 game slates - throw a dart and try not to hurt yourself
After a couple break even nights in a row (breaking even is like winning, right?) it's time for a very unexciting four game Thursday night slate.
How does one attack a slate when the best DFS player in the league, Russell Westbrook, is involved in a game with an O/U south of 200?
How many Dallas Maverick players are too many Dallas Maverick players?
TNT -- I appreciate you wanting to show us how good Westbrook is, but seriously, this is the game you're making us watch tonight?
Anyway, onto my teams. I decided to play a few more cash games tonight, so we'll go with that lineup:
PG: Eric Bledsoe - Suns: Against my better judgement, I decided to avoid Westbrook in my cash game lineups tonight. Usually he's a staple of my team when playing cash, but I ended up going a different route tonight. With the O/U of the Suns and Nuggets game tonight being in the 230 range, I decided to load up on a few pieces from that game. Bledsoe has been on fire recently and I decided to pivot away from Russell and give Eric a shot tonight instead.
SG: Devin Booker - Suns: As mentioned, this game's over under was pretty big and Booker has been one of the hottest players in the league lately. He is quite scoring dependent but he has consistently been producing of late and I don't see that stopping tonight. Gary Harris DEF worries me a little, but I have faith that Devin should be able to reach value pretty easily.
SF: Justin Anderson - Mavericks: The Mavericks are kind of a MASH unit these days. There will be several players from this team in my lineups tonight in both tournaments and cash as the key group should see plenty of minutes and chances to produce. Anderson is a cheap option that looks to be gaining confidence with each minute he gets. Facing a OKC team that doesn't overly focus on DEF and isn't exactly shooting the lights out these days - Anderson should have a chance to both score and steal some rebounds during this game.
PF: Darrell Arthur - Nuggets: A little bit of a gamble here, which I don't usually make in cash lineups, but Arthur has been very solid since coming back from injury. The front court for Denver is a bit muddled so I have to hope they continue to give him 15-18 minutes and, at league minimum, it is not overly concerning but he could get a DNP at any time as we've seen from Mike Malone.
C: Tyson Chandler - Suns: Chandler has been producing at a $7200-$7300 range but is still sitting at $6800 as of today. This may be one of the last nights I am able to justify rostering him for a while but I wanted to roll him out there tonight in this high total game. a consistent 28-30 point player lately, he is exactly what I need to balance out my cash teams tonight.
G: Jameer Nelson - Nuggets: Other than one dud, Nelson has stepped into the starting role nicely since Mudiay went down with an injury. Another player from the highest predicted total on the board tonight, Nelson is another player that may not flash huge upside but certainly shouldn't kill my team, barring disaster.
F: Karl Anthony-Towns - Timberwolves: KAT is an absolute monster and I try and fit him onto my teams any time I can. It was a toss up on KAT or Jokic and my coin flip lead me to Towns (kidding). I just think that Len and Chandler could get Jokic in some foul trouble tonight so I decided to pivot over to Towns as he is a solid 45-50 pt player night in and night out. When fielding cash teams I like to try and stay as solid and predictable as possible.
UTL: Ricky Rubio - Timberwolves: I think Rubio was scared of being Wally Pipped. Ricky went home for a game earlier this week and Kris Dunn had a monster night. Needless to say, Rubio came right back to the team and deemed himself ready to go. Jeff Teague defense really is nothing to scare me away from someone and this game is another of the higher totals of the night. Rubio is able to put up solid fantasy nights without relying on scoring, and those are the kind of players I like.
In my tournaments I have shares of Pierre Jackson, Dwight Powell, Enes Kanter and Andrew Wiggins.
Good luck to everyone! I hope your players stay out of foul trouble and don't decide to put up a dud tonight.
How does one attack a slate when the best DFS player in the league, Russell Westbrook, is involved in a game with an O/U south of 200?
How many Dallas Maverick players are too many Dallas Maverick players?
TNT -- I appreciate you wanting to show us how good Westbrook is, but seriously, this is the game you're making us watch tonight?
Anyway, onto my teams. I decided to play a few more cash games tonight, so we'll go with that lineup:
PG: Eric Bledsoe - Suns: Against my better judgement, I decided to avoid Westbrook in my cash game lineups tonight. Usually he's a staple of my team when playing cash, but I ended up going a different route tonight. With the O/U of the Suns and Nuggets game tonight being in the 230 range, I decided to load up on a few pieces from that game. Bledsoe has been on fire recently and I decided to pivot away from Russell and give Eric a shot tonight instead.
SG: Devin Booker - Suns: As mentioned, this game's over under was pretty big and Booker has been one of the hottest players in the league lately. He is quite scoring dependent but he has consistently been producing of late and I don't see that stopping tonight. Gary Harris DEF worries me a little, but I have faith that Devin should be able to reach value pretty easily.
SF: Justin Anderson - Mavericks: The Mavericks are kind of a MASH unit these days. There will be several players from this team in my lineups tonight in both tournaments and cash as the key group should see plenty of minutes and chances to produce. Anderson is a cheap option that looks to be gaining confidence with each minute he gets. Facing a OKC team that doesn't overly focus on DEF and isn't exactly shooting the lights out these days - Anderson should have a chance to both score and steal some rebounds during this game.
PF: Darrell Arthur - Nuggets: A little bit of a gamble here, which I don't usually make in cash lineups, but Arthur has been very solid since coming back from injury. The front court for Denver is a bit muddled so I have to hope they continue to give him 15-18 minutes and, at league minimum, it is not overly concerning but he could get a DNP at any time as we've seen from Mike Malone.
C: Tyson Chandler - Suns: Chandler has been producing at a $7200-$7300 range but is still sitting at $6800 as of today. This may be one of the last nights I am able to justify rostering him for a while but I wanted to roll him out there tonight in this high total game. a consistent 28-30 point player lately, he is exactly what I need to balance out my cash teams tonight.
G: Jameer Nelson - Nuggets: Other than one dud, Nelson has stepped into the starting role nicely since Mudiay went down with an injury. Another player from the highest predicted total on the board tonight, Nelson is another player that may not flash huge upside but certainly shouldn't kill my team, barring disaster.
F: Karl Anthony-Towns - Timberwolves: KAT is an absolute monster and I try and fit him onto my teams any time I can. It was a toss up on KAT or Jokic and my coin flip lead me to Towns (kidding). I just think that Len and Chandler could get Jokic in some foul trouble tonight so I decided to pivot over to Towns as he is a solid 45-50 pt player night in and night out. When fielding cash teams I like to try and stay as solid and predictable as possible.
UTL: Ricky Rubio - Timberwolves: I think Rubio was scared of being Wally Pipped. Ricky went home for a game earlier this week and Kris Dunn had a monster night. Needless to say, Rubio came right back to the team and deemed himself ready to go. Jeff Teague defense really is nothing to scare me away from someone and this game is another of the higher totals of the night. Rubio is able to put up solid fantasy nights without relying on scoring, and those are the kind of players I like.
In my tournaments I have shares of Pierre Jackson, Dwight Powell, Enes Kanter and Andrew Wiggins.
Good luck to everyone! I hope your players stay out of foul trouble and don't decide to put up a dud tonight.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
What a frustratingly fun night of NBA DFS
So close, yet so far away.
Last night was a perfect example of why it's difficult to put in a lineup early in the day and then actually expect that lineup to succeed to it's fullest potential.
As I sit scanning Twitter at around 6:30pm last night we get news that Kawhi Leonard was going to be sitting out the Spurs game last night vs the Nets.
"Yikes!" I thought to myself. "This changes everything!!"
Now I have to scramble through and remove Leonard from all of the teams that I currently had him on and, also, go back now and add in a couple Nets players because they have a better chance of keeping it close now. All of the sudden Lopez was in play, Kilpatrick was in play, RHJ was in play. Not only that, but now I need to add LaMarcus Aldridge to as many lineups as possible as his usage is off the charts with Kawhi sits!!
As I'm doing that I get the report that Anthony Davis is also out for the Pelicans.
"DRATS!!!!"
Now I have to make sure I didn't have him in any lineups (which I didn't) but now I have to make sure I get Jrue Holiday and Terrance Jones in some lineups as they are sure to get a huge up-tick in usage with out Brow on the court!
Unfortunately I, like most, didn't think the Pelicans would be able to keep the game close enough to warrant playing LeBron, Love or Kyrie so I faded those three (bad idea) and put my money elsewhere.
Jrue ended up being just 1.9% owned in the DK $4 $150,000 for first league while Jones was a smidge over 10%.
As the early games rolled through I had a couple teams doing decent but one team smashing.
Here was that lineup:
PG: Antetokounmpo (50.75 FPP) : With a high scoring match-up vs the Rockets in his sight, it was hard to go against the Greek Freak in this spot. I figured he would get a bit over looked with all of the other stars on the slate. He ended up being 20.7% owned and at $10,600 he got me nearly 5x, which I was fine with.
SG: Dellavedova (29.75 FPP) : Again, a high scoring match-up vs the Rockets and Delly remains in the starting lineup after a pretty solid showing in the Bucks last game. At just $3,500 I thought he was an absolute lock on Monday night to at bare minimum reach value. He ended up far exceeding my expectations and, at 11.1% owned, was just the kind of player needed in my GPPs to try and move up in the standings.
SF: Dion Waiters (48.75 FPP) : If they're going to keep his price under $6k and Miami continues to run him out there for over 30 minutes a game, Dion will be an insta-start in my lineups for a while, especially with Tyler Johnson out. I felt he was a must start at $5,700 as his minutes and production continues to improve since coming back from injury. Of course, I didn't expect him to put up almost 50, but I really thought he was a very safe play for that price tag. I was very excited to see he was only 18.5% owned!
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge (42.25 FPP): Man oh man. Thanks, Brooklyn, for your efforts on Monday... LMA will be in my lineup any time Leonard is out. That is just facts. At $6,900 he needed just 35 FPP to reach 5x and I figured he was a mortal lock for that tonight vs a Nets team that clearly hates playing defense. Unfortunately this game turned into a blow out and he only played 27 minutes. At 25.8% ownership he was my highest owned player, but I still would've liked for that game to stay close so that he saw some 4th quarter action, darn it.
C: Clint Capela (21.25 FPP): Here is another player who is seeing a little more production as his minutes continue to increase after coming back from injury. To be fair, this was a total "dart" as they announced he would be starting, which always makes me interested and, even more intriguing, Miles Plumlee was starting for the Bucks. My thought was that Capela would be able to out rebound the former Dukie thus giving him a very good chance of hitting value just based on peripheral stats and hopefully find a tip back basket or 5 to get up to 30 FPP. Unfortunately this did not play out the way I'd hoped. He ended with 21 FPP which, at $4,000, was still 5x on his salary but I fully expected him to reach 25+ and at just 8.5% owned I was really pulling for him Monday night.
G: Jrue Holiday (67.5 FPP): As mentioned, the moment that I heard Davis was out I swapped Holiday into as many teams as I could as quickly as I could. His numbers have been down lately, which is likely what helped contribute to him being just 1.9% owned, but I was ok rolling the dice on him going up against Kyrie defense. Needless to say he far out performed my expectations as he put up that magical 9x number we always dream about. Thanks Jrue,
F: Terrence Jones (63.75 FPP): Did someone say 9x? Mr. Jones will see your 9x and raise you one more. At just $6,200 ended up getting 10x, which is what you need in order to take down a GPP. Especially since he was just 10% owned. The fear, of course, was that the Pelicans would get blown out and none of the starters would play their full allotment of minutes or that Alvin Gentry would simply come up with some crazy lineup changes that left everyone scratching their head ... which has been known to occur. I was willing to take that chance, however, as Jones has proven to be a great DFS player when actually given minutes, so he was worth the risk and it certainly paid off.
UTL: Thaddeus Young (19.75 FPP): Well, drats. Thad is a very streaky player that, when going good, is an insta-start for me. After scoring over 30 FPP in 4 of his last 6 games, I thought he was worth a shot at $5,500 vs an average rebounding team such as the Knicks. My theory was he would be able to rebound a lot of the bricks that were put up on both sides, as neither of these teams really jump off the chart when it comes to FG%. Unfortunately he got in foul trouble early and then Myles Turner took over the game, leaving Thad in a comfy position on the bench cheering on his team for long stretches of time. He ended up getting 31 minutes, which is encouraging, but with the foul trouble he was not able to be as aggressive as he usually is thus limiting his fantasy potential.
Oh well. It was fun while it lasted and I was feeling pretty good about my teams with about 100 minutes left for my squad but it just didn't pan out the way I hoped.
Maybe next time.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments below!
Last night was a perfect example of why it's difficult to put in a lineup early in the day and then actually expect that lineup to succeed to it's fullest potential.
As I sit scanning Twitter at around 6:30pm last night we get news that Kawhi Leonard was going to be sitting out the Spurs game last night vs the Nets.
"Yikes!" I thought to myself. "This changes everything!!"
Now I have to scramble through and remove Leonard from all of the teams that I currently had him on and, also, go back now and add in a couple Nets players because they have a better chance of keeping it close now. All of the sudden Lopez was in play, Kilpatrick was in play, RHJ was in play. Not only that, but now I need to add LaMarcus Aldridge to as many lineups as possible as his usage is off the charts with Kawhi sits!!
As I'm doing that I get the report that Anthony Davis is also out for the Pelicans.
"DRATS!!!!"
Now I have to make sure I didn't have him in any lineups (which I didn't) but now I have to make sure I get Jrue Holiday and Terrance Jones in some lineups as they are sure to get a huge up-tick in usage with out Brow on the court!
Unfortunately I, like most, didn't think the Pelicans would be able to keep the game close enough to warrant playing LeBron, Love or Kyrie so I faded those three (bad idea) and put my money elsewhere.
Jrue ended up being just 1.9% owned in the DK $4 $150,000 for first league while Jones was a smidge over 10%.
As the early games rolled through I had a couple teams doing decent but one team smashing.
Here was that lineup:
PG: Antetokounmpo (50.75 FPP) : With a high scoring match-up vs the Rockets in his sight, it was hard to go against the Greek Freak in this spot. I figured he would get a bit over looked with all of the other stars on the slate. He ended up being 20.7% owned and at $10,600 he got me nearly 5x, which I was fine with.
SG: Dellavedova (29.75 FPP) : Again, a high scoring match-up vs the Rockets and Delly remains in the starting lineup after a pretty solid showing in the Bucks last game. At just $3,500 I thought he was an absolute lock on Monday night to at bare minimum reach value. He ended up far exceeding my expectations and, at 11.1% owned, was just the kind of player needed in my GPPs to try and move up in the standings.
SF: Dion Waiters (48.75 FPP) : If they're going to keep his price under $6k and Miami continues to run him out there for over 30 minutes a game, Dion will be an insta-start in my lineups for a while, especially with Tyler Johnson out. I felt he was a must start at $5,700 as his minutes and production continues to improve since coming back from injury. Of course, I didn't expect him to put up almost 50, but I really thought he was a very safe play for that price tag. I was very excited to see he was only 18.5% owned!
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge (42.25 FPP): Man oh man. Thanks, Brooklyn, for your efforts on Monday... LMA will be in my lineup any time Leonard is out. That is just facts. At $6,900 he needed just 35 FPP to reach 5x and I figured he was a mortal lock for that tonight vs a Nets team that clearly hates playing defense. Unfortunately this game turned into a blow out and he only played 27 minutes. At 25.8% ownership he was my highest owned player, but I still would've liked for that game to stay close so that he saw some 4th quarter action, darn it.
C: Clint Capela (21.25 FPP): Here is another player who is seeing a little more production as his minutes continue to increase after coming back from injury. To be fair, this was a total "dart" as they announced he would be starting, which always makes me interested and, even more intriguing, Miles Plumlee was starting for the Bucks. My thought was that Capela would be able to out rebound the former Dukie thus giving him a very good chance of hitting value just based on peripheral stats and hopefully find a tip back basket or 5 to get up to 30 FPP. Unfortunately this did not play out the way I'd hoped. He ended with 21 FPP which, at $4,000, was still 5x on his salary but I fully expected him to reach 25+ and at just 8.5% owned I was really pulling for him Monday night.
G: Jrue Holiday (67.5 FPP): As mentioned, the moment that I heard Davis was out I swapped Holiday into as many teams as I could as quickly as I could. His numbers have been down lately, which is likely what helped contribute to him being just 1.9% owned, but I was ok rolling the dice on him going up against Kyrie defense. Needless to say he far out performed my expectations as he put up that magical 9x number we always dream about. Thanks Jrue,
F: Terrence Jones (63.75 FPP): Did someone say 9x? Mr. Jones will see your 9x and raise you one more. At just $6,200 ended up getting 10x, which is what you need in order to take down a GPP. Especially since he was just 10% owned. The fear, of course, was that the Pelicans would get blown out and none of the starters would play their full allotment of minutes or that Alvin Gentry would simply come up with some crazy lineup changes that left everyone scratching their head ... which has been known to occur. I was willing to take that chance, however, as Jones has proven to be a great DFS player when actually given minutes, so he was worth the risk and it certainly paid off.
UTL: Thaddeus Young (19.75 FPP): Well, drats. Thad is a very streaky player that, when going good, is an insta-start for me. After scoring over 30 FPP in 4 of his last 6 games, I thought he was worth a shot at $5,500 vs an average rebounding team such as the Knicks. My theory was he would be able to rebound a lot of the bricks that were put up on both sides, as neither of these teams really jump off the chart when it comes to FG%. Unfortunately he got in foul trouble early and then Myles Turner took over the game, leaving Thad in a comfy position on the bench cheering on his team for long stretches of time. He ended up getting 31 minutes, which is encouraging, but with the foul trouble he was not able to be as aggressive as he usually is thus limiting his fantasy potential.
Oh well. It was fun while it lasted and I was feeling pretty good about my teams with about 100 minutes left for my squad but it just didn't pan out the way I hoped.
Maybe next time.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments below!
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Wednesday NBA DFS and how horrible it went
Another frustrating night of DFS is about in the books and it can't end fast enough.
I only played a handful of teams tonight but it was enough to fry my brain a bit ... but I guess that really doesn't take much.
The Good or Not Horrible
In what is almost an insta-start for me, Kemba Walker playing at home vs Lillard DEF was a lock on almost every roster I had tonight. Lillard isn't known as much of a defender and I figured they would leave McCollum to try and match up with Batum so Kemba could have his way tonight.
He didn't exactly crush value, as he was $7,700, but he got to that magic 5x area I like finishing with 40.5 DK points. Not a bad way to start my lineups, as he certainly was the anchor on nearly all of them.
Darren Collison played some pretty good ball with Ty Lawson was out a few weeks ago and, with Lawson questionable leading up to the game, I went ahead and fired Darren out into over 1/2 of my lineups tonight. Just before the game, but after the roster lock of the early games, Lawson was ruled out and helped my this pick look a little better. At $5,300 he needs 28 to reach the 5x level I like and, as I write this, he as 19.5 at half so that shouldn't be too hard for him to reach.
Montrezl Harrell is a high energy guy that I absolutely love when he's going to get minutes vs a big man that isn't a dominant presence like a Cousins, Towns, Gobert, etc. Tonight he faced the Bucks who would be using Greg Monroe and John Henson and shortly before roster lock it was announced that Harrell would be starting over Capella. That was all I needed to hear to fire him out in a few lineups tonight and he did not disappoint as he ended with 37 DK pts at just $5,100.
There were other guys that I had sporadically throughout the rest of my teams such as Batum, Beasley, Kuzminskas, Lowry and Aminu who all put up solid nights for my teams.
That being said, they couldn't pick up the slack of my two huge duds of the night. There were two popular "cheap-ish" centers tonight and I wanted to start them both on my teams, using the C slot for one and the UTL slot for the other, but thought better of it. Instead, I decided to split them up evenly across almost all of my teams as "there's no way they both bust tonight, right?"
The HORRIBLE
Kyle O'Quinn is likely one of the most hated men in the DFS universe tonight. A super popular pick, which should've been reason enough for me to fade him, O'Quinn jumped to the top of everyone's value chart the second that Noah was ruled out tonight for the Knicks. Being that he has shown flashes of brilliance during a number of his starts tonight he was an almost "must play" in many people's eyes tonight, including mine. 4.75 DK points later and I'm cursing at my computer, the TV, O'Quinn, Spike Lee and anything else related to the Knicks. How someone that has flashed 40 point upside on multiple occasions could get 4.75 pts and get just 10 minutes in a start is mind-blowing.
And, on the other side of the ball we have
Kelly Olynyk of the Celtics. Coming off 7 straight games of 20 or more DK pts and putting up 44 and 34 in his last two outings, Olynyk was in a prime spot to crush value again tonight against the hapless Knicks. As baffling as it is that O'Quinn only played 10 minutes tonight it is complete insanity that Kelly was given only 13 minutes for Boston tonight. Now, I get it, I know, Amir Johnson played great for the Celts and cut into his time, just like Hernangomez played great cutting into O'Quinn's time but with the recent track-record of Olynyk one would think he would get a little more rope to hang himself with before yanking him off the floor. Apparently not. Ending with just 9 pts the majority of my rosters were dead once the final buzzer went off in this game.
Again, in retrospect I should've likely looked elsewhere as these two guys were certainly going to be high owned and that's not the best way to attack tournaments but never did I expect them both to tank this bad.
Well, live and learn, right?
I only played a handful of teams tonight but it was enough to fry my brain a bit ... but I guess that really doesn't take much.
The Good or Not Horrible
In what is almost an insta-start for me, Kemba Walker playing at home vs Lillard DEF was a lock on almost every roster I had tonight. Lillard isn't known as much of a defender and I figured they would leave McCollum to try and match up with Batum so Kemba could have his way tonight.
He didn't exactly crush value, as he was $7,700, but he got to that magic 5x area I like finishing with 40.5 DK points. Not a bad way to start my lineups, as he certainly was the anchor on nearly all of them.
Darren Collison played some pretty good ball with Ty Lawson was out a few weeks ago and, with Lawson questionable leading up to the game, I went ahead and fired Darren out into over 1/2 of my lineups tonight. Just before the game, but after the roster lock of the early games, Lawson was ruled out and helped my this pick look a little better. At $5,300 he needs 28 to reach the 5x level I like and, as I write this, he as 19.5 at half so that shouldn't be too hard for him to reach.
Montrezl Harrell is a high energy guy that I absolutely love when he's going to get minutes vs a big man that isn't a dominant presence like a Cousins, Towns, Gobert, etc. Tonight he faced the Bucks who would be using Greg Monroe and John Henson and shortly before roster lock it was announced that Harrell would be starting over Capella. That was all I needed to hear to fire him out in a few lineups tonight and he did not disappoint as he ended with 37 DK pts at just $5,100.
There were other guys that I had sporadically throughout the rest of my teams such as Batum, Beasley, Kuzminskas, Lowry and Aminu who all put up solid nights for my teams.
That being said, they couldn't pick up the slack of my two huge duds of the night. There were two popular "cheap-ish" centers tonight and I wanted to start them both on my teams, using the C slot for one and the UTL slot for the other, but thought better of it. Instead, I decided to split them up evenly across almost all of my teams as "there's no way they both bust tonight, right?"
The HORRIBLE
Kyle O'Quinn is likely one of the most hated men in the DFS universe tonight. A super popular pick, which should've been reason enough for me to fade him, O'Quinn jumped to the top of everyone's value chart the second that Noah was ruled out tonight for the Knicks. Being that he has shown flashes of brilliance during a number of his starts tonight he was an almost "must play" in many people's eyes tonight, including mine. 4.75 DK points later and I'm cursing at my computer, the TV, O'Quinn, Spike Lee and anything else related to the Knicks. How someone that has flashed 40 point upside on multiple occasions could get 4.75 pts and get just 10 minutes in a start is mind-blowing.
And, on the other side of the ball we have
Kelly Olynyk of the Celtics. Coming off 7 straight games of 20 or more DK pts and putting up 44 and 34 in his last two outings, Olynyk was in a prime spot to crush value again tonight against the hapless Knicks. As baffling as it is that O'Quinn only played 10 minutes tonight it is complete insanity that Kelly was given only 13 minutes for Boston tonight. Now, I get it, I know, Amir Johnson played great for the Celts and cut into his time, just like Hernangomez played great cutting into O'Quinn's time but with the recent track-record of Olynyk one would think he would get a little more rope to hang himself with before yanking him off the floor. Apparently not. Ending with just 9 pts the majority of my rosters were dead once the final buzzer went off in this game.
Again, in retrospect I should've likely looked elsewhere as these two guys were certainly going to be high owned and that's not the best way to attack tournaments but never did I expect them both to tank this bad.
Well, live and learn, right?
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