By Jordan Nashen
bobcats.com

January 28, 2008

We all anticipate big fantasy numbers from Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony amongst the other top stars, but the true value of a fantasy team lies within the role players, or “steals” as some may call them, that you picked up in the mid to late rounds of your draft.

Have they lived up to expectations? Have they surpassed them? Have the ones that you scouted just totally let you down? Some of these players will get analyzed in this installment of the Bobcats Fantasy Basketball Report. With the injuries piling up (as they normally do around this time of the season), these players’ values are more important as fantasy playoffs approach. Unfortunately for your Bobcats, their depth is a bit short due to their own injuries so it may have been a bit difficult to pick up a Bobcat “steal” in your draft.

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RECAPPING THE WEEK THAT WAS:

The Bobcats took a turn for the worse this week by only picking up one win in four contests. Fantasy-wise, it could have been worse. All I can hear is my main man, Bobcats PA announcer Patrick chant O-KA-FOOOOOORRRR over and over again. The man in the middle recorded four straight double doubles this week putting a smile on fantasy owners faces.

Here is a closer look at what the Bobcats did this past week:

JANUARY 21 vs. SAN ANTONIO - BOBCATS 86, SPURS
Shooting stud: Emeka Okafor shot the ball well going 10-14 FG posting another double double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Shooting dud: Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson combined for 28 points, and shooting 10-36 FG, 2-11 3-pt FG.
Key contributor: Nazr Mohammed scored 12 points on 6-8 FG and posted four rebounds.

JANUARY 23 vs. DALLAS - BOBCATS 95, MAVERICKS 102
Shooting stud: Emeka Okafor shot the ball well once again posting 19 points on 9-16 FG. He also picked up 10 rebounds recording another double-double.
Shooting dud: Matt Carroll only got five points on 1-5 FG.
Key contributor: Raymond Felton chipped in with 16 points (7-13 FG) and seven assists.

JANUARY 25 at CHICAGO - BOBCATS 90, BULLS 77
Shooting stud: Emeka Okafor posted another double double with a 21 (10-13 FG) and 16 night.
Shooting dud: Jason Richardson had an off night with 11 points (3-13 FG).
Key contributor: Matt Carroll contributed 12 points (4-8 FG, 3-4 3FG) off the bench.

JANUARY 26 vs. PHILADELPHIA - BOBCATS 96, 76ERS 103
Shooting stud: Emeka Okafor hits his fourth straight double double with a 17 point (8-12 FG) 16 rebounds (9 OR) evening.
Shooting dud: Matt Carroll had only two points (1-9 FG) in a starter’s role with Raymond Felton nursing an ankle sprain .
Key contributor: Nazr Mohammed continued his strong play with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Emeka Okafor averaged 19.5 points (.673 FG %) and 13 rebounds (5 OR) this past week. If not for the Bobcats sub par record, he could have followed Gerald’s good fortunes and been a candidate/selection for the Eastern Conference POW.
Gerald Wallace continues to put up big numbers and taking care of all categories for fantasy owners. He did not statistically match last week’s performances but did manage to post averages of 19.5 points, seven rebounds, five assists and 2.3 steals.
Jason Richardson had a pretty inconsistent week but did finish it out by posting his usual numbers, comparable to G-Force’s. In his four games, he scored 13, 22, 11 and 35 points averaging out to 20.3 a game. In his week’s finale, he shot 7-11 from the arc which sets a new team record for 3FG.
Raymond Felton sat out the last game vs. Philly with a sprained left ankle. He averaged 11.3 points and seven assists in his three games this past week, a small but meaningless slide from his season averages. Look for a strong return from the co-captain.
Matt Carroll didn’t have one of his better shooting weeks only averaging 6.5 points on .290 FG%. He is better coming off the bench, which he didn’t last game in Felton’s absence or most likely tonight again with Raymond doubtful.
Nazr Mohammed’s numbers slightly increased this week by averaging 10 points a game (.567 FG %) to go along with six boards off the bench. With the team on the West Coast, look for Nazr to be that sparkplug off the bench on both ends of the floor that Coach Vincent turns to for energy and productivity.

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PREVIEWING THE WEEK AHEAD:
The Bobcats begin their first west coast road trip of the season by playing four games this week. They will face the Clippers (January 28), the Kings (January 30), and then play back-to-back games against the Warriors (February 1) and the Nuggets (February 2). Charlotte’s record entering this week is 17-27.

Here is a closer look at the matchups for the Bobcats this week.

JANUARY 28 at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (13-27)
The Bobcats won the first meeting this year against the Clippers by a three point margin, 108-105. Wallace, Okafor and Felton all had big nights.

Key Matchup: Gerald Wallace (21.3 points, 6.2 rebounds) vs. Corey Maggette (20.9 points, 5.9 rebounds)

Fantasy Tip: Maggette has been hot of late, averaging 26.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his last five games. He most recently poured in 35 points and added nine rebounds in a loss to Memphis. He is the type of player that will fill up the stat sheet on any given night, and is a good player to have on your roster if you are category point-depleted in your league.

JANUARY 30 at SACRAMENTO (19-24)

This will be the first matchup with the Kings this season. With Sacramento getting its key players back and their performances starting to regain form, the value of their role players have been lagging (see fantasy tip).

Key Matchups: Jason Richardson (20.3 points, 5.5 rebounds) vs. Kevin Martin (24.4 points, 4.7 rebounds)

Fantasy Tip: With Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin back in the lineup, fantasy owners have been dropping John Salmons, Beno Udrih and Francisco Garcia like hot cakes. Each player’s averages have dropped and their fantasy value is simply not there.

FEBRUARY 1 at GOLDEN STATE (27-18)
Jason Richardson plays his former team for the first time since being traded on draft day this past offseason.

Key Matchup: Richardson (20.3 points, 5.5 rebounds) vs. Stephen Jackson (20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists)

Fantasy Tip: Has Monte Ellis been on fire or what? In his past five games, he’s been averaging an astonishing 25.2 points, way up from his 17.7 season average.

FEBRUARY 2 at DENVER (26-17)

Denver will look to extract revenge on the Bobcats after losing to them a couple weeks ago in Charlotte. Wallace and Carmelo both went off the last time. If Anthony is back and healthy, there is no reason they shouldn’t go at it again.

Key Matchups: Gerald Wallace (21.3 points, 6.2 rebounds) vs. Carmelo Anthony (25.5 points, 7.0 rebounds)
Emeka Okafor (13.4 points, 10.4 rebounds) vs. Marcus Camby (9.4 points, 14.4 rebounds, 3.9 blocks)

Fantasy Tip: Kmart’s and Kleiza’s value have increased and fantasy players have made them the top two added players in the past week (ESPN Fantasy). Martin is averaging 16 points and 7.5 rebounds in his last five, while Kleiza (has he been mentioned in each of the past two installments!?) has been averaging 17.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in his past five while continuing to replace Melo in the starting lineup. His numbers are as surprising as John Cena winning the WWE’s Royal Rumble last night in New York.

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AROUND THE ASSOCIATION
Who’s hot:

T-Wolves’ center Al Jefferson is averaging 27 points and 13.4 rebounds in his last five games. Most recently, Jefferson notched a career high 40 points with 19 rebounds a win over New Jersey.

Magic swingman Hedo Turkoglu not only nailed the game winning shot agsint the Celtics yesterday, but has been posting POY numbers as well. He is averaging 25.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in his last four games.

Indiana’s Kareem Rush is averaging 17.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in his last five games. These numbers are way up from 8.3 points and 2.0 rebounds a game this season. He is another role player who is currently shining.

Who’s not:

Daniel Gibson of the Cavaliers is averaging 6.5 points on .313 FG% in his last four games. Gibson shot a surprising 2-of-10 from the field in a win against Miami last week.

Ricky Davis of the Heat is only averaging 5.2 points in 10 of 35 shooting in his last five games.

Antonio Daniels of the Wizards is averaging seven points on 5-19 FG in his last three games.

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THIS WEEK’S PROJECTIONS:

During the Nets-Warriors game on TNT Thursday night, Charles Barkely reiterated my point on Vince Carter. He is clearly on the decline. He does not attack the basket anymore and is not a passionate player. His fantasy numbers aren’t what they once were when he was playing with those types of emotions that we were all accustomed to at one point.

With Ben Gordon and Luol Deng both injured for the Bulls, look for Andres Nocioni (roll player) to step up big time and carry the load. He has already started to do so by averaging 18.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in his last five games.

Another fantasy roll player who is putting on a show in Minnesota is Ryan Gomes. He is averaging 18.2 points (.593 FG %) and 6.0 rebounds in his last five games.

As the Hornets continue to post victories, David West’s numbers continue to rise. He most recently scored 32 points on 15-19 shooting in a big win against the Spurs. Look for his numbers to stay constant should the Horents continue winning.

Staying with the Hornets, role player Jannero Pargo got 24 points in a win vs. the Blazers last week and is averaging 11.8 points and 4.2 assists over his last five games.

Another role player coming out of nowhere is Ime Udoka of the Spurs who is averaging 11 points and 4.8 rebounds in his last four games.

Thabo Sefolosha started his eighth consecutive game yesterday while posting 11 points and 6.4 rebounds in his last five contests. With all the injuries going on in Chi-Town, look for Sefolosha to continue getting more minutes and appeasing fantasy owners as a productive role player.

Make sure to check back every Monday for another installment of the Bobcats Fantasy Basketball Report.

Past Bobcats Fantasy Basketball Reports:

January 21, 2007

January 14, 2007