Jan. 4 -- I’m finally back. Can you imagine not having Internet for two-plus weeks? A worse evil simply does not exist. One perk of my disabled Internet was having time to catch up on my gaming, most notably NBA 2K6, made by the wonderful developers at Visual Concepts. No basketball game is as realistic, accurate, and addicting – not just this year, but ever. I’m usually not a big fan of basketball games, but NBA 2K6 is probably the greatest sports game ever. We’re already two months within the basketball season, so if you haven’t already, pick it up. Immediately.

To Whom It May Concern

One of my favorite things to do in NBA 2K6 – well, I do it in every sports game I get because I am a perfectionist – is edit most of the players in the game to my liking, because the ratings are never perfect. I took the liberty of making Shaun Livingston a nice 87, because although his career has been cut a little short by injuries, there’s no question in my mind that he’ll be a superstar someday soon. Since coming back from injury, as I predicted earlier, Livingston has found a way to log a starter-worthy number of 30.3 minutes per game, and while he’s going through an ugly adjustment period coming back from injury, if he’s getting those type of minutes, you want to be all over him, both figuratively and literally.

You surely know that with T.J. Ford out, Maurice Williams officially becomes somebody’s heavenly waiver wire grab, but Antonio Burks is another point guard who might become the premier benefactor to Damon Stoudamire’s unfortunate season-ending injury. While not exactly setting the world on fire, he is, expectedly, seeing a significant increase in minutes lately, as he’s now the back-up point guard, behind only fragile Bobby Jackson. Count on Jackson to go down sooner rather than later, and if indeed that happens, Burks will make a fine number-three fantasy point guard who’s readily available in your league.

For those of you hanging on to James Posey, hoping he reaches prior glory, you may as well wait for the Y2K bug to demonize the world as we know it. With the Heat’s depth, he’s never going to see much more than 30 minutes per game, and with their extensive talent, his role also won’t be more than a good defender and a three-point threat. Unless you’re desperate for threes, start shopping him – as long as he’s starting he has some trade value.

The Stretch Run

Discussing the stretch run in January? Aren’t there still four months left to the season? Don’t I have plenty of time to catch up?

That’s the problem right there: everyone is going to be trying to make those last-minute tweaks in the last third of the season. You make your move as a team right now, in the next two months, and then, with the proper core, all that’s left is adjusting and strengthening your bench during the stretch run. Trying to swing deals later on is much harder, because then values are truly set in stone, and most people already have their core in place and don’t want to give any of it up. January is the perfect month to steal a championship, because value is most unsettled in the middle tiers, and there’s still time to sell off damaged goods (like James Posey!) to other teams who still do believe in what’s not there.

Another important factor is that, since we still haven’t reached the halfway mark, you can still sit on some injuries or player mishaps (Ron Artest) and wait for them to give you a big boost – in other words, giving up short-term, but still replaceable, help, for long-term gain. A lot of people are afraid to do it because they’ll end up doubting themselves, e.g., “Do I really know Artest is going to be as good as he was before?” We tend up living in the now more often than we should, and that’s how you lose in fantasy hoops.

Substantial risk is the last thing you want to take on, but that’s the problem: if you need that edge, you must take some risks to win the title. It’s important to keep it all relative, though – you want to take educated risks, not illogical things like depending on Marcus Camby to stay healthy all year to continue your dominance.

As long as you still have the desire, no matter what place you’re in, it’s not going to be too hard to win your league with the proper moves. The only hard part is identifying what are the right underrated targets who not only meet your needs, but aren’t expensive to acquire…which, of course, is where I come in. There are a plethora of players—either freely available on your free agent list or through trade for just a little bit of your time—that are your main propellers to your title.

Ron Artest, SF, IND (?): And of course Artest (if you couldn’t catch my not-so-subtle hints) is atop this list. The big problem—with everyone who owns him, anyway—is that no one has any idea when he’ll return or be traded. Acquiring Artest represents risk: the Pacers have shown they’ll sit him out if they don’t get any takers. But I’m ever the optimist that something will be worked out. You don’t want to have to give up something substantial for him, but playing off impatience will give you a smile. It reminds me of the Jason Kidd situation last year; most people were pessimistic about Kidd sustaining his statistical dominance in lieu of his micro-fracture knee surgery, but those who bit the bullet and hung on to him won big.

Manu Ginóbili, SG, SA: Ginóbili really has had a pretty miserable season up to this point, simply unable to stay healthy. I foresaw injury problems when he was injured very early in the year, and now I believe Ginóbili and the Spurs have learned their lesson, and will ease him in until he’s 100%. Still, even hobbled and limited, he’s still put up good numbers in a downtime of minutes, and you can take it to the bank that the real reward will soon be forthcoming.

Andrei Kirilenko, SF, UTA: An injury-prone superstar with horrible percentages? Baron Davis usually is the grand prize winner, right? This year, much to my chagrin, it’s been my boy AK-47. One thing I do despise is the “injury-prone” label getting attached to him so soon, though. While he has been hurt a lot recently, one injury was a broken bone (note to anyone calling someone injury-prone: it takes more than one year to call someone injury-prone, and broken bones are inherently fluky...none of these athletes have osteoporosis here), and he’s only missed 10 games this year, although it’s sure felt like a lot longer to AK owners. He’s healthy now, though, and while he will never be a 20-point scorer, he’s sharing the rock quite well this year (4.1 assists while still maintaining a manageable turnover rate). He’s a career 45.9% shooter from the field (and 77.2% from the line), and an increased percentage means more points to boot. In other words, a top-three player is just waiting to break out, and can be acquired for much less than that level of dominance would usually demand.

Raymond Felton, PG, CHA: I’ve said since the start of the season that Felton would eventually reward patience, specifically after the All-Star break, but with 24.4 minutes in December (a 5.2-minute increase over November), 29 minutes per in his last five, and the injury-prone nature of Brevin Knight, and it can be safely said that Felton’s emergence is just around the corner.

Mike Miller, SG/SF, MEM: It’s been pretty well known that I am a rabid Mike Miller fan, and while the former Rookie of the Year has disappointed heretofore in ’05-‘06, he too is about to bust out. Stoudamire’s injury helps Miller further, as he’ll now get more of an opportunity to handle the ball since Bobby Jackson is less of a passer than Stoudamire, and he’ll also have to shoulder more of the scoring load. Logging nearly 33 minutes per game in the month of December means seeing the court is no longer an issue, and only the best should be expected from Miller from here on out.

Delonte West, PG, BOS: West went through a mediocre month in December, especially compared to the expectations after his November, but the fact that his position as the starting point guard for the Celtics never wavered is of the utmost importance, as he still logged over 31 minutes per game. He’s been heating up recently, and with his rare combination of a high field goal percentage and a block per game from the point guard position, even in his down times he’ll always remain valuable to you.

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.