Jan. 20 -- My plan for this week was to break out the C-Dub Normalized Player Rater. In case you have not noticed this week marks the half way point in most head-to-head leagues and is the perfect time to see how the real and perceived value of players compare after half of the year. That was the plan.

Sometimes plans change or get canceled. The obligations of being fantasy sports expert caught up with me this week. Sure being a fantasy guru is great, there are the adoring fans, the groupies, the millions in endorsement deals, my private Island in the Pacific – ok my wife, my bird, the quarter I found on the ground and my closet. However the job is not without its drawbacks. As soon as the football season ends I have to start preparing for baseball and my work for the TalentedMrRoto.com draft kit took the time I needed to crunch the numbers for the player rater. So this week we will just write about what our experts were up to with their rosters…

Hoboken Nicks Drops Shareef Abdur-Rahim, F, Sac; Adds Marquis Daniels, G/F, Dal
The latest news update on Rahim has him returning to practice “soon”. How long it will take Rahim to start playing again and get into game-shape is another question. Having had his jaw wired shut, he has not been able to exercise strenuously and he has lost weight. I say consider him out for another month.

Daniels is not the picture of health, either, as he is likely out until next week with the strained neck that has plagued him for much of the season. The Mavericks appear committed to starting Daniels when healthy and when he returns he should continue posting the 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal per game he has averaged this year.

Fightin TMR’s Drops Ben Gordon, G, Chi; Adds Earl Watson, G, Den
After a recent slump, Gordon exploded for 32 points versus the Knicks on Wednesday. He even hit the game-winner.

It just would not be a C-Dub’s Basketball Pub without an appearance from one of the Denver Earl’s – not to be confused with the Earls of Denver. Watson is now starting at shooting guard for the Nuggets but his scoring; three pointers and assists are way down from when he started at point guard. He can be counted on for a steal per game and some scoring but his value is limited as long as Earl Boykins is healthy.

SI Drops Ronald Murray, G, Sea; Adds Mike Dunleavy, F, GS
Murray will give owners 12 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal per game, blah.

Don’t look now but Dunleavy has been very good the last five games: 18 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and one three pointer per game. As nice as those numbers are, they are fueled by a much higher than usual 49 percent from the floor - over seven percent better than his accuracy this year and five percent above his career average.

Hoboken Nicks Drops Marquis Daniels, G/F, Dal; Adds Nenad Krstic, C, NJ
Daniels neck pain is a pain in the neck for fantasy owners but he should be back necks – next – week.

Krstic and a lame missing vowel line once again decide to visit the pub this week. This week Krstic is still a Scrabble tile short of a complete last name, still provides good scoring numbers for a center and his field goal percentage has improved but he has had only seven rebounds in the last three games and zero blocks this month!

Straight Cash Drops Danny Granger, F, Ind; Adds DeSagana Diop, F/C, Dal
That will teach me to pimp a player. Granger has 13 points total in the last three games. I take back what I said about him being an excellent add from last week.

Diop has scored only 10 points in January but if you combine Diop’s rebounds and blocks with Krstic’s scoring you do get a nice fantasy center NenadDeSagana Diop-Krstic, sort of rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Anyway, Diop makes a good streaming option in head-to-head league for those in need of rebounds and blocks.

SI Drops Hedo Turkoglu, G/F, Orl; Adds Jalen Rose, G/F, Tor

In seven of eight January games, Rose has scored over 10 points. Rose’s per game averages this month are 25 minutes, 15.9 points, 2.4 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 three pointers - add Rose to the ever-popular points and three pointers only list, at least until he is traded.

John Cregan’s Team Drops Jamaal Tinsley, G, Ind; Adds Keith Van Horn, F, Dal
The latest news on Tinsley is that he is dribbling the ball with his right hand. That is all well and good but there is no word yet on when Tinley will actually play again.

Van Horn is suffering from a sprained ankle, and even when not injured, he's not a reliable fantasy producer given his fluctuating playing time.

Full Court Press Drops Ike Diogu, C/F, GS; Adds Dikembe Mutombo, C, Hou
Diogu’s playing time and production vary and the high production games – 16 points, 12 rebounds and one block – don’t make up for the unproductive ones – four points and two rebounds.

And Dikembe rejects Diogu from the Full Court Press team.

Full Court Press Drops Deron Williams, G, Uta; Adds Jose Calderon, G, Tor
Williams just cannot remain in the starting lineup for the Jazz and is one of the most disappointing rookies thus far this year. Averaging only 7.1 points, 2.8 assists and a steal per game during January, Williams has no place in single-season leagues.

Aside from a 13-point 10-assist game against the Knicks on January 15 there is nothing – as in a total of 11 points and nine assists in five games -- to recommend Calderon to fantasy owners at this time.

Fightin TMR’s Drops Earl Watson, G, Den; Adds Kevin Martin, G, Sac
Unproductive players do not last long in our expert leagues; sorry Early, we will probably see you again next week.

The C-Dub “gift” continues. In the two games following last week’s column, Martin has averaged 23.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 three pointers and 1.5 steals per game. I still don’t think Martin’s production will last but that is what I thought last week and look what happened.

Straight Cash Drops DeSagana Diop, F/C; Adds Francisco Garcia, G/F, Sac
The Kings add yet another player to the “who scored how many points?” list. This of course comes after his 21-point, 10-rebound performance on Tuesday. If Garcia can continue to get playing time he will be a good fantasy player but I don’t see him taking Bonzi Wells’ place in the Kings starting rotation so his window of fantasy worthiness is likely severely limited.

Straight Cash Drops Francisco Garcia, G/F, Sac; Adds Raymond Felton, G, Cha
I am still deciding if I would add Garcia to any of my teams.

Injuries to Kareem Rush and Bevin Knight have meant over 34 minutes per game for Felton over the last six games. In those games Felton has averaged 10.8 points, four rebounds and 3.8 assists; that seems like reasonable numbers to expect out of Felton the remainder of the season.

Full Court Press Drops Jose Calderon, G, Tor; Adds Leandro Barbosa, G, Phx
Barbosa is finally back from the knee injury that caused him to miss 16 games but a crowded Suns rotations means that minutes will be hard to come by especially with Raja Bell shooting out of his mind right now.

SI Drops Antoine Walker, F, Mia; Adds Austin Croshere, F, Ind
At one time Walker could be counted on to get fantasy owners points, rebounds, assists and steals, but with poor percentages. Walker still is providing poor shooting performances but not enough help in the other categories to make up for his shooting deficiencies.

Croshere has been starting in place of an injured Jermaine O’Neal but has not proven to be the healthiest player himself.

ESPN Drops James Jones, F, Phx; Adds Udonis Haslem, F, Mia
Here are two numbers that should tell you all you need to know about James Jones: four and five. Those are his total points and rebounds over the last three games. It looks like we have found the lost man in the Suns rotation.

Haslem is a good streaming option for those in need of rebounds but doesn’t help in enough other categories to merit a roster spot in a 10-team league.

C-Dub Drops Joel Przybilla, C, Por; Adds Chris Mihm, C, LAL
Add Joel Przybilla to the ever-growing list of disappointing fantasy players this season. Przybilla has not had 10 rebounds in any game during January and his last 10-plus rebound effort came on December 9. While the 2.4 blocks he is averaging per game for the year are nice, we were expecting more than the 6.6 points and seven rebounds per game he is averaging on the year.

I needed a center who had no playing time issues and Mihm was the most qualified applicant – it didn’t hurt that he had four games this week either. Look for 12 points, seven rebounds and a block per game from Mihm.

Dress Code Violators Drops Jason Williams, G, Mia; Adds Juwan Howard, F, Hou
Jason Williams’ knee is connected to fantasy owners’ heads. When his knee hurts it is a headache for fantasy owners. Don’t count on Williams to play every game the rest of the year and he probably won’t play the second game in back-to-back games.

Howard is playing like it is 1996 not 2006. For the last four games, Howard is averaging 23.5 points and 10.7 rebounds. Those look like good numbers to me.

Amazingly enough I am way past my word limit for the week. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.

Shawn Cwalinski is a fantasy expert for www.TalentedMrRoto.com, a site featuring free advice, news, stats and analysis for all fantasy sports. The site has been nominated for 16 Fantasy Sports Writing Awards by the FSWA, twice as many as any other site. Contact him at C-Dub@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.