Jan. 9 -- Underrated rats in history:

* Ratbert, the ever-hopeful temp worker in the Dilbert comic strip.

* David Landau, the actor to whom James Cagney's character said in the 1932 movie, Taxi!: "Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!"

* The Stat Rat, weekly bringer of your NBA Movers and Shakers.

As your humble TMR columnist, I'm doing my best to get The Stat Rat the ratty recognition it deserves. You can help by reading on, and by keeping in mind our ground rules:

Stat Rat Movers= Players who've seen a recent spike in production over the past week compared to the entire season up until that point.

Stat Rat Shakers= Players who've seen a recent decrease in production over the past week compared to the entire season up until that point.

Minute Movers= Players who've seen a recent spike in playing time over the past week compared to the entire season up until that point.

Minute Shakers= Players who've seen a recent decline in playing time over the past week compared to the entire season up until that point.

Stat Rat Movers

Some happy returners among our Movers, starting with Kobe Bryant, who returned from suspension to amass 98 points in two games. Since a concussion kept him out of a Dec. 19 contest with Golden State, Delonte West has nine straight games of double-digit scoring. Rafer Alston, who recently returned after missing 17 games with a hairline fracture in his leg, led Houston to road wins over Washington and Cleveland, but struggled at Toronto. Speaking of the Raptors, if you're wondering how they've managed to win five in a row, remember that they've played Atlanta twice in this stretch. But that's the smart-alecky answer. The smart answer is Mike James, who's averaging 24.4 points, 8.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and shooting a sizzling 63.2 percent from three-point range during the streak.

Rnk Player - POS - Team Last 7 thru 1/7 +/-
1 Andrei Kirilenko - F - UTA 1.88 0.35 1.53
2 Delonte West - G - BOS 1.30 0.32 0.98
3 Kobe Bryant - G - LAL 1.67 0.71 0.97
4 Jameer Nelson - G - ORL 1.06 0.17 0.89
5 Danny Granger - F - IND 0.70 -0.10 0.80
6 Mike James - G - TOR 1.08 0.31 0.78
7 Rafer Alston - G - HOU 0.69 -0.07 0.76
8 Kirk Snyder - G/F - NOK 0.47 -0.21 0.68
9 Juan Dixon - G - POR 0.70 0.02 0.68
10 Othella Harrington - F/C - CHI 0.42 -0.25 0.67

Stat Rat Shakers

I don't know about you, but I would happily take a roster of this week's Shakers. One reason Chris Webber has been so good this season is because of the effort he put in over the summer. Webber lost weight and, according to the Sacramento Bee, worked on his footwork with retired Kings strength and conditioning coach Al Biancani. It was all going great until last week, when Webber strained his lower back and missed his first game of the season. He returned the next game, but went only 5-of-16 in a loss to the Lakers. The game Webber missed, incidentally, was at Phoenix. I mention this because after the Suns played the Sixers sans Webber, two nights later they played Miami without Dwyane Wade, who has a bruised right shin. Phoenix's next opponent? Denver -- without Marcus Camby.

Rnk Player - POS - Team Last 7 thru 1/7 +/-
1 Richard Jefferson - G/F - NJ -0.25 0.57 -0.82
2 Dwyane Wade - G - MIA 0.18 0.85 -0.66
3 Jared Jeffries - F - WAS -0.64 0.02 -0.66
4 Kareem Rush - G - CHA -0.59 0.05 -0.64
5 Allen Iverson - G - PHI 0.29 0.9 -0.61
6 Chris Webber - F - PHI -0.02 0.57 -0.59
7 Marquis Daniels - G/F - DAL -0.34 0.21 -0.55
8 Sergei Monia - F - POR -0.75 -0.21 -0.54
9 Maurice Evans - G - DET -0.55 -0.02 -0.53
10 Tyson Chandler - F/C - CHI -0.43 0.1 -0.53

Minute Movers

Apparenly Larry Brown has finally decided to go with the youngsters, hence more minutes for David Lee and Nate Robinson. Meanwhile, with Tyson Chandler's continuing health problems and Mike Sweetney's ineffective play, Chicago has turned to Othella Harrington to bolster its front court. The soon-to-be 32-year-old has responded with averages of 13.5 points and six boards in his last four games. Harrington has also started the past two games, both double-digit Bulls wins.

Last 7 Days

Through 1/7
Rnk Player - POS - Team Gms Min/Gm Gms Min/Gm +/-
1 David Lee - F - NY 2 38.00 17 12.40 25.60
2 Kevin Martin - G - SAC 2 37.50 24 18.70 18.80
3 Jumaine Jones - F - CHA 3 35.30 24 16.90 18.40
4 Jamal Crawford - G - NY 1 49.00 28 30.80 18.20
5 Nate Robinson - G - NY 2 36.50 26 18.50 18.00
6 Othella Harrington - F/C - CHI 4 26.00 26 9.90 16.10
7 Dikembe Mutombo - C - HOU 3 28.30 24 12.60 15.70
8 Kirk Snyder - G/F - NOK 4 26.30 18 11.70 14.60
9 Danny Granger - F - IND 3 31.30 24 17.60 13.70
10 Mike Wilks - G - CLE 3 18.30 18 4.70 13.60

Minute Shakers

After playing a total of eight minutes over the previous three games, J.R. Smith started and finished with seven points in 24 minutes against Atlanta on Jan. 7. Apparently Smith had been dogging it in practice, so he ended up in Hornets coach Byron Scott's doghouse.

Last 7 Days

Through 1/7
Rnk Player - POS - Team Gms Min/Gm Gms Min/Gm +/-
1 J.R. Smith - G - NOK 3 10.70 25 26.40 -15.70
2 Tyson Chandler - F/C - CHI 1 11.00 29 26.20 -15.20
3 Adrian Griffin - G - DAL 4 13.50 15 27.10 -13.60
4 Alonzo Mourning - C - MIA 3 12.30 30 25.00 -12.70
5 Jared Jeffries - F - WAS 2 12.50 28 22.90 -10.40
6 Jeff McInnis - G - NJ 1 9.00 24 19.00 -10.00
7 Malik Rose - F - NY 1 4.00 27 14.00 -10.00
8 Jon Barry - G - HOU 2 10.50 14 20.30 -9.80
9 Steven Hunter - F/C - PHI 3 10.70 25 20.30 -9.60
10 Marcus Banks - G - BOS 4 12.30 8 21.80 -9.50

Neil Tardy is a fantasy expert for NBA.com. His column The Stat Rat runs every Monday as part of the NBA.com Premium Scouting Report. Contact him at NJT64@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.