Jan. 18 -- After 236 days of eager anticipation, the season premiere of 24 did absolutely nothing to disappoint, blowing away anyone’s possible expectations. Every time you think the show is due for a let down – Day 4 was by far the worst season of the group, as the writers obviously did not know how to utilize the new cast – it simply sets the bar so high that nothing could ever come within the same thought level. 24 is the masterful 3D game, while all other shows are presented in a shoddy 2D plane. The very first episode of Day 5 stabs you in the heart within the first five minutes as you watch the beloved former President, David Palmer (played by the impeccable Dennis Haysbert), get sniped in the throat. Not one to let up, it twists the knife to the side and rips it out as you see Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth) ignited in a car bomb just a few minutes after, and her husband Tony Almeida (Carlos Benard) engulfed in flames himself.

What other show kills off two of the six original characters that have been present in every single season within the first fifteen minutes? (Okay, so Tony isn't technically dead yet, but still....) It’s hard to stomach at first, but you just must applaud the audacious writing that left even yours truly speechless. (Apparently America agrees; said episode pulled in a 24-record 17 million viewers.) It was so good that you can’t even ask for more. When you get every present you wish for on Christmas, can you really be greedy enough to want more? That’s what I felt like by the end of the two-day season premiere event. Bravo.

Rather quietly, Andres Nocioni has produced some very fantasy worthy numbers all year, and he’s red-hot in January, too. Nocioni doesn’t get enough minutes to set the world on fire, but he is consistent in what he does, which, over the long haul, turns into roto gold. Hitting nearly a three and a half per game all year long, he’s also tossed in double-digit points, solid rebounds, a superb free throw percentage, an above-average field goal percentage, and even a block a game. He’s available on some waiver wires and he’s probably been better than your current small forward, too.

While he will most likely never live up to expectations, Mike Dunleavy apparently has some fire in his belly, earning his five-year, $44 million dollar contract. Gradually seeing more minutes in each successive month, virtually every statistic of his has increased in the process, to the point where he’s in his comfort zone and really producing in January. Li’l Dun’s always going to be inconsistent, and his season stats still look awful, so it shouldn’t be that hard to pry him away from his owner for less than he’s worth.

Larry Brown has the rotation that even Hubie Brown would envy, so it’s only natural that first round pick David Lee would get his turn, too. Although a rather undersized power forward (what is the Knicks’ fascination with those?), he plays hard when he is in. Usually that’s a description used for someone who has all heart and little talent, but he was an All-SEC player and if there’s one thing Isiah Thomas is impeccable at, it’s drafting. The Knicks have a logjam at the power forward position and he’s not well-suited to playing small forward, so he should be viewed as a short-term pick-up. Regardless, when you’re shooting 79 percent for the month, someone needs to talk about you.

Every now and then, I like to deviate from standard procedure. It’s probably an innate human quality since the days of the hunter and gatherers, and I’m just a common man who’s ill-equipped to fight something that’s imbedded in my own DNA. I’m also very sick (I really do take being healthy for granted) and still reeling from 24, so this week I’ll take the easier, but no less informative, way out this week and do something I’ve always wanted to do: an interview. Unfortunately, I’m not important enough to be in a real interview, so I’ll interview myself, slap it on a web site and call it a day. My lack of the humility, combined with my target audience tells me I can get away with it. My editor says I have to stick to basketball, so I can only go so far with my rebelling.

So Adam, I have to begin with the question everyone’s lining up for hours to ask: Who’s really the best overall fantasy player?

Whenever the subject of fantasy basketball, or any fantasy sport, comes up, someone always asks me who the best guy to have is. Of course, the best isn’t always the very best – the best value is really the best, not the best overall single player, but the former isn’t as exciting as the latter and takes more explaining to get through. So ignoring the real best, the “other” best, meaning the one player who’s the most valuable, as if this were an imaginary game of one-on-one, would have to be Andrei Kirilenko. A few weeks ago it would have been ridiculous to say, since he’s been hurt and put up horrendous percentages, but I would’ve said it anyway, partially because I’m a gigantic Kirilenko fanboy and partially because I really believe it’s true. He’s had the best January of anyone else in basketball, and while he won’t stay consistent at this ridiculous level for the rest of the season, he’ll be close enough. Even though this isn’t that helpful to very many people (it’s kind of difficult to trade for someone that good), he’s still not thought of as the best player, or often-times even a top five player, so throw out some bait and see if you get any suckers to bite.

Hey, you said Ron Artest would be playing soon. What is your definition of soon?

I’ll stick with what I said earlier: Artest will be traded somewhere and he will be just as good, if not better. As for what soon actually means, I’ll say give it about a month (especially since no one will know the trading deadline is on Feb. 23rd, making about a month all he has left). I’ve always been an Artest fan, and I’m willing to stick my head out for this. There is no in-between on this: I’m either going to be gloriously right or painfully wrong. I’d still trade for him, though, both as a real life GM (call me to set up an interview if you have an open position) and a fantasy one.

Before the season, you virtually promised Baron Davis would get hurt. What do you think now?

For the first three years of his career, B-Diddy, as all the cool kids call him (and I am cool), was what every genius fantasy columnist would have called the definition of a stable investment, as he never missed a game. Since then, he’s missed about a season’s worth of games – 83 – and every pseudo-expert says the law of the fantasy world is that Davis misses 10-15 games. If you watch him play, you can see why he’s prone to injury: he plays very hard, he attacks the basket a lot (and he did it even more in his earlier days, before he jacked up threes non-stop), and he’s sometimes too out of control for his own good. Of course, since he did stay healthy for three straight years, he can do it again, too. He’s also built like a bull, ready to take punishment. I’m really saying nothing at all, so in conclusion, I’d say you can’t count on an injury – it’s been nearly three months – and if you trade him, you have to demand a return as if he’s not getting injured. Regardless, there’s no way I could feel safe with him as one of the best players on my team unless he proved it again for two more years, so I wouldn’t hesitate to move him despite his monstrous stats, even if it is for a little bit less than he’s worth.

Pick a Kobe: Some 35-odd points per game with his lowest assist average in seven years, or the do-it-all fantasy hound of years prior?

Kobe’s getting all the headlines nowadays (what an incredible hug Kobe Bryant just put on Shaquille O’Neal!), so it’s only natural I should help contribute. His scoring average is eye-popping, but I really don’t think he’s playing better this year than last. At the beginning of last year, he was battling plantar fasciitis, but when he got time to rest (which came due to his shoulder getting injured and subsequently missing 30 games), he was Paul Pierce-esque in his efficiency, yet still pouring in the assists and threes of old. I always say it’s easiest to find points and rebounds and hardest to find assists and steals (Kobe, seriously, where did the steals go?), so old-school Kobe is the choice.

Name someone who’s on the bench now, but will end with the starting job, on his real time and on fantasy teams.

Jarrett Jack. Telfair’s apparently lost his job, and no, Steve Blake is not the answer. Virtually everyone on the Blazers roster has been starting at some point, and when the wheel turns to Jack for his turn at a spin, he’s going to deliver.

When will UPN start airing new episodes of Veronica Mars again?

I know, you’re telling me! What is with it when networks have a good, relatively popular show, and then put it on hiatus for five weeks?! Why not just push the season premiere back those weeks and run it through all the way? If I wasn’t so loyal to the show, I would never watch the network again, just to stick it to them. Blasphemous!

You just finished an interview with yourself and expect to turn it in to your editor without repercussions. Your thoughts?

Depressed, but only because 24 comes on just once a week.

Adam Madison is a fantasy expert for NBA.com. His column The Tao of Roto runs every Wednesday as part of the NBA.com Premium Scouting Report. Contact him at Adam@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.