Jan. 15 -- This week finds me writing from Long Island instead of my home base in Oakland, California. I am visiting my wife's family for the long weekend. It's a different world out here. My wife's family is Irish-Italian and large. Their house is Cape Cod and small. There is no intimate act that goes unheard in this house. As a result, there are few intimate acts. There is nothing quite like listening to your father-in-law work through the effects of the previous night's cheap Chinese take-out. It would make me laugh except that I realize that at some point I am going to have to work through it myself.

"How's it going in there, Guy?"
"Great, Mrs. Kelly."
"Don't forget to flush twice."
"I won't."

Family, especially one's wife's family, is all about special awkward moments. Take my brother-in-law Michael's malapropisms at the dinner table: The apple doesn't fall far from the pear and Ma, stop the kvitchin! were two special ones last night. Or my nephews getting my twenty-month-old son to say, Go Yangees! over and over again. Those kids can forget about their birthdays this year; they'll get nothing from this Red Sox fan. I suppose this was a kind of sweet revenge for the Christmas of 2004, when I and my wife's dachshund wore Sox jerseys all day.

The most awkward moment of the weekend so far was without a doubt the ride in my brother-in-law's H2 to get the Chinese take-out with he and my father-in-law. This ex-NYPD cop and retired fireman aren't the most racially conscious pair you’re likely to meet. Just to get a rise out of his father, Michael decided to pump Khia's "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)" on the ride over. Let's just say the dirty south didn't win any sexagenarian Irish converts that day. If you have no idea what I am talking about, Google the lyrics, but the title tells you pretty much all you need to know.

Thank God for fantasy. Sometimes the real world can be too painful to bear. This week's team is participating in an ESPN group challenge. This is where two groups of teams face off in a kind of fantasy rumble. Todd Whitestone, Telestar on the TalentedMrRoto.com message boards, writes:

We, Uber League of America (ULA), have one group of five owners, and another group, Central Sports Inc (CSI) challenged us to prove they have better fantasy gamers. The idea is that all ten final positions count in determining who does better, so it's not all about being the champ - we are trying as a group of five to finish higher than the other guys.

Todd's team, Full Court Press, is in ninth place out of ten while his teammates occupy four of the top five spots. Not wanting to let his guys down—hey, when you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way—Todd is desperate to get back into the mix. This league is rotisserie in scoring and counts the eight standard categories—no turnovers. There are ten active roster spots and total maximum games played of 820. Let's take a look at…

Full Court Press

PG: Andre Miller (PG—Over nine assists a game since December from this trade acquisition helps in a weak category.)
SG: Eddie Jones (SG,SF—Picked up recently in a trade, Eddie is good for threes and steals.)
SF: Andrei Kirilenko (SF,PF—Super stud. AK47 is doing it all for fantasy teams.)
PF: Elton Brand (PF—His bruised hip shouldn't be too much of a concern. Between he and AK, that's two first round level players.)
C: Emeka Okafor (PF,C—His ankle scares me . FCP needs a fill-in for the next few weeks.)
G: Tony Parker (PG—His shooting percentage would be good for a power forward let alone a point guard.)
F: Troy Murphy (PF—By his own account he is pressing right now. Troy will get back on track.)
Util: Bobby Jackson (PG,SG—Jackson scores but he shoots poorly and gets few assists.)
Util: Speedy Claxton (PG—The scoring and steals help a couple of weak categories for this team.)
Util: Vladimir Radmanovic (SF,PF—His value has jumped since the coaching change in Seattle.)
BN: Kenny Thomas (PF—Will provide steady numbers so long as Shareef Abdur-Rahim is out.)
BN: Ruben Patterson (SF—He helps in points and not even that much there—expendable.)
IR: Bonzi Wells* (SG—Bonzi should be back in a few weeks.)

What’s Working

Despite the fact that Todd is in ninth place I see reasons for optimism for his team. Why? Trades. Full Court Press made two trades in week nine that I think will help his team a lot. First, he traded Dirk Nowitzki and Brad Miller for Elton Brand and Andre Miller. He gave up a lot but he shored up the point guard position and helped himself a bunch in field goal percentage and assists. His second move was to trade Larry Hughes and Stephen Jackson for Tony Parker and Eddie Jones. This move was pulled off just before Hughes was lost for eight weeks with a broken finger. Sometimes fortune smiles on you. This move helps in steals, assists, and field goal percentage and obviously saves Todd the heartache of losing a key player for two months.

Full Court Press is fifth in blocks and with Elton Brand now in tow this team should continue to climb. Kirilenko has been blocking everything but the Sun the past few weeks and FCP is just three blocks behind the fourth place team. Another strong cat is steals. FCP is just in sixth here but Eddie Jones is a born thief and this team has a number of players who average better than a steal a game. Plus, with Bonzi (1.7 steals per game) expected back in a few weeks, FCP is sure to improve its standing. FCP is third in rebounds. While Okafor's injury hurts here, Todd has enough strong rebounders—Kirilenko, Brand, Murphy—to ride it out while he's missing games.

We’ve seen what’s working; now let’s look at…

What’s Not

If you are ninth place out of ten, there are going to be a few weak areas. Statistically, Full Court Press is dead last in field goal percentage, assists, and points. The team is second from last in three pointers. Knowing this, you can see the rationale for the moves Todd made. Adding Tony Parker (.536) and Andre Miller (.456) boosts field goal percentage from a position that is traditionally weak in that statistic. As bad as this team's field goal percentage is (.447), it is very close to the next two teams (.450 and .451 respectively) and should pass them soon.

The additions of these two point guards, especially Miller, will help in assists as well. FCP is 55 assists behind the next team and 98 behind the team ahead of them so it will take a little time to catch up. Reviewing their rosters I think FCP will catch these two teams in about month and half, especially if Todd follows a few of my suggestions below.

Before I get ridiculously optimistic, there is a serious problem with this team. The center position: it's thinner than vermicelli. Emeka Okafor is out for a few weeks with a badly sprained ankle and FCP has no one to back him up. You cannot have an empty roster spot in a league as competitive as this. Given the hole this team has dug for itself in points (388 points behind the ninth place team), Full Court Press needs every roster spot filled with a live body.

What to Do

His first move should be to pick up a center. I suggest adding either Mark Blount or Primoz Brezec. Both are scoring well and shoot excellent percentages. I would drop Patterson for Blount myself. He is getting more court time—over thirty minutes in each of his last three games—and all his numbers are up. He would add over 13 points a game than Full Court Press is getting from his center position right now. True, Blount's rebounding is weak but, again, FCP is averaging zero rebounds per game out of his center slot right now. This move should be made ASAP.

The next move I recommend is improving the backup point guard position. Presently, Todd is running Bobby Jackson and Speedy Claxton out there. Speedy is fine. Indeed, his numbers should be quite strong while Chris Paul is limited by his wrist injury. Bobby Jackson is another matter. While I love his scoring, Bobby doesn't help at all in assists (2.5 per game) and he will only slow this team's improvement in field goal percentage with his 40.4 percent shooting. Maurice Williams is available on the wire. He was dropped because of his plantar fascitis and has missed his last three games. This makes him something of a risk, but if you look at his numbers (15.1 points, 1.5 threes, 4.3 assists, and 44.3 percent shooting), you can see he is worth it.

By adding two more assists a game than you get from Bobby Jackson, Full Court Press reduces the number of games needed to catch the two teams ahead of him. I averaged the assists per game of all three teams and looked the present difference in their assist totals. At his current pace it will take 16 games to catch the Savages and 28 games to catch San Antonio. With Maurice (or an equivalent assisting player) instead of Jackson, he can shave a game or two off this climb and put more distance between himself and these two after he catches them. FCP is lagging behind the games played pace. This allows him to rotate in more players going forward. He should roster his players to concentrate on those categories where he can make up the most ground.

As far as trades go, hold tight for now. Full Court Press made two big moves and should let them do their work. At this point, with his two trades and following my free agent advice, he should climb in assists, field goal percentage, steals, blocks, and points. Joining the rest of his teammates in the top five seems possible. There is still more than half of the season to go, after all.

Good luck, Todd. I like your chances. And remember, the apple never falls far from the pear. That’s it for this week. Write me at ExpertEye@talentedmrroto.com and tell me all about your team and league, I’ll scour your waiver wire and look for good trade partners. Together, we can remake your team.

Guy Lake is a fantasy expert for NBA.com. His column Expert Eye for the Roto Guy runs every Sunday as part of the NBA.com Premium Scouting Report. Contact him at guylake@TalentedMrRoto.com.

The views expressed by the TalentedMrRoto.com represent only the views of the writers; they do not represent the views of the NBA or any NBA team.