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And we are back to ring in the New Year by taking inventory of all 30 teams in our beloved NBA with a fantasy vibe and a resolution for 2008. Like the Brazilian Blur, off we go…
San Antonio Spurs
Fantasy Vibe: It’s time to trade the 31-year-old Tim Duncan because he’s getting nicked up (dinged both knees already), his scoring numbers are trending downward for the third straight year, and Gregg Popovich is the NBA’s answer to Mike Shanahan. (That’s a good thing in reality and a bad thing in fantasy.)
New Year’s Resolution: Repeat. If the Spurs go back-to-back, winning four titles in six years, even the cynics would have to go along with the dynasty talk.
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CP3 is driving toward one of the best seasons by a point guard in league history.
(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images) |
Dallas Mavericks
Fantasy Vibe:
New Year’s Resolution: Stop over-coaching this mega-talented team.
New Orleans Hornets
Fantasy Vibe: Chris Paul is on pace to become the first player in NBA history to average more than 20 points, 10 assists, and three steals in the same season. Entering Tuesday’s work, Paul was cranking out 21.6 points, 10.3 assists, and 3.0 steals.
New Year’s Resolution: Stop buying pump fakes from post players. In back-to-back games at Golden State and Phoenix this past weekend, David West and Morris Peterson suffered harsh crashes after buying the fake and rolling over the offensive player on the way to the floor.
Houston Rockets
Fantasy Vibe: While Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudemire are noisier and sexier, Yao Ming is the top center across eight categories, thanks to 21.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.3 blocks, 49 percent shooting and 86 percent foul shooting.
New Year’s Resolution: Keep giving minutes to Bonzi Wells and Aaron Brooks after Tracy McGrady returns, which could happen Friday.
Memphis Grizzlies
Fantasy Vibe: Rudy Gay has turned into a poor man’s Andre Iguodala. Check out how similar their numbers are:
- Gay: 19.4 points / 5.5 rebounds / 1.8 assists / 0.9 blocks / 1.4 steals / 1.6 threes / 47-76 percent
- Iguodala: 18.9 points / 5.7 rebounds / 4.7 assists / 0.7 blocks / 2.1 steals / 1.2 threes / 44-77 percent
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Living the Fantasy:
Phoenix Suns
Fantasy Vibe:
New Year’s Resolution: When the Suns and Spurs meet in the playoffs, hopefully the Western Finals, Amare, Shawn Marion, and Brian Skinner HAVE TO brutalize Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili every time they enter the paint. You gotta get down and dirty to beat the Spurs.
Los Angeles Lakers
Fantasy Vibe: Apparently the best is yet to come from Andrew Bynum. He averaged 11 and 11 with 1.5 blocks and 59 percent shooting in November. Then he averaged 14 and 9 with 2.7 blocks and 66 percent shooting in December. And through two games in January, he’s averaging 20 and 14.5 with 3.5 blocks and 74 percent shooting.
New Year’s Resolution: Get out of the first round. As long as Kobe Bryant stays healthy, the Lakers have a legitimate chance against every team in the West except the Spurs.
Golden State Warriors
Fantasy Vibe: After scoring 16 points in a win over San Antonio on Monday night, Monta Ellis is averaging 16.5 points on the season, with a home scoring average of 16.5 and a road scoring average of—you guessed it—16.5.
New Year’s Resolution: More minutes for Andris Biedrins, who isn’t even averaging 30 minutes a night for this big-man starved team. In 28.6 minutes, the Latvian center is posting 10.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks with a league-high field goal percentage of .654.
Sacramento Kings
Fantasy Vibe: Word on the street is that Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin are targeting returns in mid-January, so the fantasy owners of John Salmons, Beno Udrih, and Francisco Garcia should be bracing for a significant drop in value.
New Year’s Resolution: When the Kings get Bibby, Martin, and Ron Artest back from injury, Reggie Theus needs to deploy a small lineup of Bibby at PG, Martin at SG, Salmons at SF, Ron Ron at PF, and Brad Miller at C, with Udrih, Garcia, and Mikki Moore rounding out a solid eight-man rotation.
Los Angeles Clippers
Fantasy Vibe: Despite the fact that Elton Brand won’t be back until sometime in March—at the earliest, you might as well keep holding onto him just in case his 20-10-3-2-1 returns this year.
New Year’s Resolution: Play Al Thornton until he drops.
Denver Nuggets
Fantasy Vibe: With 32 points in Monday’s loss to Phoenix, Allen Iverson topped the 30-point plateau for the third straight game, raising his scoring average to 27.1, which is second only to LeBron James. Kobe is third at 26.7.
New Year’s Resolution: The Nuggets need to make their physical 80-77 win over the Spurs on Jan. 3 the blueprint for all subsequent games this year. I have rarely seen Tim Duncan so frustrated, and Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, and
Portland Trail Blazers
Fantasy Vibe: The 19-5-5 is great, but Brandon Roy leaves a lot to be desired in steals (0.9) and threes (0.9). At this point he’s far better in reality, where he’s a stone-cold killer.
New Year’s Resolution: Hire a new barber for Josh McRoberts.
Utah Jazz
Fantasy Vibe: Trade for Mehmet Okur because he’s starting to come around, averaging 17.5 points on 48 percent shooting over the past two games. Last year, when he was an All-Star, Okur averaged 17.6 points on 46 percent. Hmmm…
New Year’s Resolution: Defend and rebound. Utah is on pace to win 42 games (after 51 victories last year) because they are allowing 2.2 more points per game (100.8) and grabbing two fewer rebounds per game (40.5).
Seattle SuperSonics
Fantasy Vibe: If he’s still on waivers, pick up rookie Jeff Green. He’s the starting three for the foreseeable future (next 15 years?) and he has averaged 13.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.0 blocks, and 35.8 minutes in his first five starts.
New Year’s Resolution: Stay in Seattle.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Fantasy Vibe:Pick up or trade for Randy Foye, who should be back in late January or early February after missing two-plus months with a stress reaction in his kneecap.
New Year’s Resolution: Win six more games. The 1972-73 Sixers set the record for fewest wins in a season (nine) and the Wolves are currently 4-29. You do the math.
Detroit Pistons
Fantasy Vibe: Flip Saunders finally got the memo about easing up on his guys during the regular season, as Rip Hamilton leads the Pistons at a well-paced 34.6 minutes per game. Last season, when the Pistons ran out of gas in the postseason for the second straight year, Rip, Chauncey Billups, and Tayshaun Prince all averaged over 36 minutes.
New Year’s Resolution: Tune into the second quarter of Pistons games to watch Rodney Stuckey’s baby steps toward greatness.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Fantasy Vibe: See if you can sell one of your opponents on Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose current averages of 13.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks mask how mediocre his numbers have been since Anderson Varejao returned.
New Year’s Resolution: Larry Hughes has to stop shooting jumpers. He has to drive or pass from now on because he’s hitting 33 percent from the floor and 29 percent from deep as opposed to a sparkling 87 percent from the stripe.
Indiana Pacers
Fantasy Vibe:
New Year’s Resolution: He’s been a warrior and a leader for this franchise for the better part of a decade, but it’s time to trade JO before all four wheels come off.
Chicago Bulls
Fantasy Vibe: Kirk Hinrich is getting better, but patience is required because the progress is slothfully slow. In November he averaged 10.1 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.9 rebounds. In December those averages climbed to 11.5, 6.7, and 4.1, respectively. And through the first three games in January, he’s up to 12.0, 6.0, and 5.7.
New Year’s Resolution: Stop worrying about off-the-court (bleep) and start giving the great fans in Chicago something to cheer about. Please.
Milwaukee Bucks
Fantasy Vibe: Mo Williams’ field goal shooting is up from .446 last year to .480 in 07-08, but his scoring average has dropped from 17.3 to 16.1 because his shot attempts have dipped from 15.4 to 13.5.
New Year’s Resolution: I don’t usually turn up the heat on coaches while living the fantasy, but this roster is way too talented to be this buried in the standings.
Boston Celtics
Fantasy Vibe: We all wanted to know what joining forces would do to the numbers for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. So far, no good. While still solid, all three have made major statistical sacrifices to start out 29-3.
New Year’s Resolution: Doc Rivers needs to reduce the minutes for the Big Three. KG is about right at 35 per, but Pierce (38.6) should yield at least three more minutes to James Posey and Allen (37.8) should shave off three more minutes for Tony Allen.
Toronto Raptors
Fantasy Vibe: Jose Calderon is a future star in this league. In 20 starts this year (36.3 minutes), the 26-year-old Spanish point guard is posting Nash-like numbers, with 13.5 points and 9.9 assists to go along with 50-38-88 on the percentages.
New Year’s Resolution: Send out a search party for Andrea Bargnani’s game. It’s been MIA all year.
New Jersey Nets
Fantasy Vibe: Trade Richard Jefferson. Over the past three months, his scoring average has dropped from 24.9 in November to 24.5 in December to 21.0 through the first three games in January. Conversely, Vince Carter’s scoring has risen from 17.4 to 23.7 to 25.7 over the same period, and that trend shall continue.
New Year’s Resolution: Give Jason Kidd whatever he wants, be it an extension or the best parking space at the Meadowlands. The Nets were nothing before him and they’ll be nothing after him. KEEP KIDD HAPPY.
Philadelphia 76ers
Fantasy Vibe: I don’t know what Andre Miller did over the Thanksgiving holiday, but it worked. After averaging 15 points and 4.5 assists with 55 percent foul shooting through November, Dre has been good for 17.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 85 percent from the line since the beginning of December.
New Year’s Resolution: Start Andre Iguodala at the two on a full-time basis. In five starts at guard, the other AI is averaging 24.6 ppg on 51 percent shooting. In 29 starts at small forward, he is averaging 18 ppg on 42 percent from the floor.
New York Knicks
Fantasy Vibe: Jamal Crawford is nice with his 18.7 points, 4.6 assists, 1.7 threes, 1.2 steals, and 86 percent foul shooting, but it all comes crashing down because he shoots 40 percent on 16 shots per game.
New Year’s Resolution: Block a freakin’ shot! Eddy Curry “leads” the Knicks at .045 blocks per game.
Orlando Magic
Fantasy Vibe: Hedo Turkoglu should give 10 percent of salary to new head coach Stan Van Gundy, who is giving the sweet-shooting Turk seven more minutes than last year (38.1). He’s up in points (13.3 to 19.5), rebounds (4.0 to 6.2) and assists (3.2 to 4.1), and he’s the fantasy pickup of the year.
New Year’s Resolution: Start Jameer Nelson and live with the growing pains. Carlos Arroyo is nice in international competition, but his game doesn’t perfectly translate to the NBA. Hate to hate, but Carlos is not taking Orlando to the second round of the playoffs.
Washington Wizards
Fantasy Vibe: Get out of yourself for a second and deal with the numbers being compiled by Caron Butler: 22.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.2 steals, 50-41-89 on the percentages. If he isn’t an All-Star, they need to cancel the event.
New Year’s Resolution: Keep playing the caution card with Gilbert Arenas, who is already starting to talk like a dude who knows he’s done for the year. It’s the next 10 years he needs to think about, and he fully understands that. We miss ya, Gilbert.
Atlanta Hawks
Fantasy Vibe: Josh Smith’s five-cat line of 18-8-3-3-2 is insane, and so are the Hawks for not extending him before this season. Now that Josh has emerged as a leader for a probable playoff team, his price tag’s going up like an alley-oop pass.
New Year’s Resolution: Go out of your way this summer to style the face of your franchise, Josh Smith, with as many millions as he wants.
Charlotte Bobcats
Fantasy Vibe: Get ready to be happy: Gerald Wallace is 25.
New Year’s Resolution: Stop wasting draft picks on big name college players with limited professional upside. Sean May was 15 and 7 at best, now he’s a hope and a prayer. Adam Morrison was Wally Szczerbiak at best, now he’s a hope and a prayer. Good luck with that.
Miami Heat
Fantasy Vibe: Trade Dwyane Wade. With Miami 8.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the East, and Wade’s injuries mounting, the Heat has to consider shutting him down at some point. The precedent was set for such activity last season when Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Michael Redd, Joe Johnson, and Ray Allen were shut down.
New Year’s Resolution:
