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We’re giving away a limited edition Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundle!
We are kicking off our holiday giveaways with a bang! We’ve teamed with our friends at shoot it! to bring you this Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 limited edition console, a $400 value. The bundle includes a custom Xbox 360 console with exclusive design, a 250GB Xbox 360 hard drive, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, a pair of black controllers, and more. It hits stores on November 10th, and we’ve pre-ordered one that we’re giving away to one of you. Be sure to check out the giveaway rules to see how to enter!
One month of the 2009-2010 NBA season is nearing an end and the rabid excitement of many fantasy basketball team owners has calmed a bit, which is why now is the perfect time to grab those waiver wire steals. There are several factors that can suddenly change the stripes of a fantasy player, including injuries to other players, trades, and other changes in circumstances. Here are players to nab if they’re still available in your league’s waiver wire or free agent listings:
Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans Hornets
Need three-point shooting? Peja’s sunk 15 treys in the last three games. With Chris Paul out for a month, Peja’s trying to be more of a leader and is getting more shots as a result. He barely gets any turnovers and usually shoots solid percentages, so go ahead and grab him if he’s available.
Dahntay Jones, Indiana Pacers
Jones has earned a spot in the starting rotation and the return of Troy Murphy shouldn’t hurt his minutes at all. Murphy’s return will probably have more of a negative effect on center Roy Hibbert’s minutes. Jones is a do-it-all forward, almost like a poor man’s Danny Granger. In the last four games, he’s averaged 19.5 ppg, 4.5 rbpg, 2.0 spg, and 1.8 bspg, while shooting 51% from the field.
Darren Collison, New Orleans Hornets
Collison is a rookie and he hasn’t collected as many threes or steals as one might want in a point guard, but in Chris Paul’s absence, he’s been solid, averaging 15.0 ppg and 7.0 apg with low turnovers, while shooting 94% from the line in four games. He should only get better as he gains more and more confidence as the team’s starting point guard.
Click to continue reading December 2010 NBA Fantasy Waiver Steals
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The Toronto Raptors have hit the road for most of November. My buddy Larry has been fuming over their lack of defense. Ironically he was loudest during a two-game stretch where they held their opponents to under 90 points. Granted, he makes a good point. When only the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks rank below you in opposing team scoring, it should send a message that the D needs to be cranked up.
The Miami Heat came to town riding low on a similar three-game losing streak. These two downward trending teams meeting each other resemble the proverbial unstoppable force against the immovable object, only much less impressive. I had not been to a game since the thrilling season opener win against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Here are my first-hand impressions of the game, with of course some fantasy spin thrown in when possible.
Click to continue reading First hand review: Miami Heat at Toronto Raptors
NBA Fantasy Basketball Early Season Guide
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Editorial, Fantasy, NBA
At this early point of the NBA fantasy season, it’s tough to know what to do. Whether to have a fire sale and completely rearrange a team, whether to make a few bold moves, or whether to sit tight. It all depends on the fantasy owner, but there are some rules of thumb to follow. Here are some suggested approaches to various rotisserie fantasy basketball situations. In some cases, the same might be applied to head-to-head.
Getting Crushed in One, Two, or Three Statistical Categories (“Stat Cats”)
At this point in the season, it’s important not to panic. Remember, it’s a long season and fantasy basketball is a marathon, not a sprint. However, if at this point, your team is getting crushed in one to three stat cats, without possibility of remedy (perhaps a player who might help in that category is due back from an injury soon), it might be prudent to try to balance out the team with a trade. In head-to-head, balance isn’t as important as it is in rotisserie.
Assess the situation. If your team is dominating in one or two categories, identify players on the team who perform well in those categories and make trade offers to teams who struggle in that stat cat. Be persistent. Trades can be tough to pull off, so don’t give up after one or two tries. Also, ensure your team can afford to be without that player. For instance, if a manager tries to trade Chris Bosh because his rebounding isn’t needed, keep in mind that he also scores points and shoots well from the field.
Click to continue reading NBA Fantasy Basketball Early Season Guide
Allen Iverson may have had the biggest drop-off of any player in recent years. Just a season and a half ago, Iverson was having a superstar season by statistical standards, averaging 26.4 ppg, 7.2 apg, while shooting nearly 46% from the field and nabbing 2.0 spg. The following year, he looked more than human. The season after that nobody wanted him at all. The question on many fans’ minds is what happened to Allen Iverson?
There are a couple of theories that might give indication to Iverson’s recent struggles.
The Ball Hog Theory
Consider that Iverson is a volume shooter. This means that in order to be effective, AI needs to have the offense flow through him and he needs to be able to take a lot of shots. Some players are able to be effective even if they don’t get a lot of touches by moving without the ball, setting up teammates, setting off screen picks, going for offensive rebounds. Allen Iverson is not one of these players. On the Denver Nuggets, he was paired with another player like this in Carmelo Anthony. While the two were able to boost their personal stats, this didn’t really help the team win, as few other players got involved in the offense. When Iverson was traded to the Detroit Pistons, a team that was accustomed to playing “team” basketball, Iverson naturally didn’t fit in with his style of dominating the ball. Therefore, he lost about five minutes of playing time per game and he was never able to adjust to a team that didn’t want to rely solely on his quickness to get baskets. Consider that in Philadelphia, where Iverson had several years of success, the system was basically tailored to him. While the team was built to be a defensive team, the objective was to let him control the offense. That meant, surrounding Iverson with big men who could collect offensive rebounds and sharpshooting wing men who could hit the open shot when the defense collapsed on a penetrating AI. It may not be coincidence that the Denver Nuggets suddenly surged after trading Iverson for Chauncey Billups.
Click to continue reading The Fall of Allen Iverson
The NBA schedule saw a full slate of games last night, and I am up early to make sure the garbage gets to the curb on time. Let us blast through the box scores, focusing on one or two players from each team and their fantasy basketball relevance.
Indiana 108, Golden State 94. Even with all the dysfunction in Golden State, the team usually puts up 100 points a night, but the Pacers outpaced andoutgunned them this game. Anthony Randolph has made a fantasy comeback, and had 17 pts, 13 rebs, 3 stl and 2 blk on his line last night. Owners need to see what happens to him when Andris Biedrins comes back because coach Don Nelson has not shown him much love at all with his playing time. On the Pacers, Tyler Hansbrough managed to put up 12 shots and get to the line eight times in just over 16 minutes of play. He finished with 11 points and 8 boards with a block, so might be worth a gander in deep leagues as a final bench spot guy.
Click to continue reading NBA Score Boxing: November 12, 2009
I appreciate musical mash-ups. Fantasy Alphabet will be my mash-up combining articles that look at hot waiver wire pick-ups, players of the week, and notable injuries. The format will consist of quick hits focusing on one player per team, and arranged in alphabetical order to help make quick scanning easier.
Dallas Mavericks: Erick Dampier. It looks like one crazy season ahead if Dampier can generate significant fantasy buzz. Since arriving in Dallas, he has never averaged double digits in points or rebounding, but so far he is doing just that. He has also pumped up his shot-blocking. Consider him as a sneaky play for the short-term as he could net you wins in the big ball categories (he has also been shooting 66%!), but the long-term outlook remains capped on the low side.
Click to continue reading NBA Fantasy Alphabet: Western Conference, Week 2
I appreciate musical mash-ups. Fantasy Alphabet will be my mash-up combining articles that look at hot waiver wire pick-ups, players of the week, and notable injuries. The format will consist of quick hits focusing on one player per team, and arranged in alphabetical order to help make quick scanning easier. This week, I arrange the teams in reverse alphabetical order because I want to shine the spotlight on the artist, I mean player formally known as Agent Zero.
Washington Wizards: Gilbert Arenas. I experienced immediate non-buyer’s remorse on Arenas. Over his first four games, he averaged 36 minutes of playing time while putting up 26.5 ppg on 47.3% shooting and 6.3 apg. On the down side, he has coughed the ball up four times a game, and has shot less than 80% from the charity stripe. Yet his threats to curb his three-point shooting have not come to pass, as he has drained two moneyballs a game. I took Andre Iguodala over him in one league after much deliberation, and opted for Vince Carter in another, and feel okay about those selections, but will still shake my head in frustration any night Gilbert goes for 30-plus. He came back to earth a bit on Friday against the Pacers as the Wizards were down pretty much from the start, but he shot 50% for the game so there are still good signs from a down game.
Click to continue reading NBA Fantasy Alphabet: Eastern Conference, Week 2
Coach Don Nelson might have success in his NBA career. Heck, he might even be considered by some to be a future Hall of Fame coach. He is, afterall, only one of four active NBA coaches with more than 1,000 victories under his belt. However, whatever he’s doing in Golden State—whatever he’s been doing in Golden State—isn’t working, and it may be time for a change.
Nelson’s “small-ball” approach, where the roster is filled with numerous versatile guards and small forwards instead of larger post players, hasn’t proven itself much in past playoffs. The problem with this approach is that, while it may work for the regular season, teams tend to slow down the pace of games in order to better execute in the half-court once the playoffs start. Since the small-ball style isn’t very effective at playing half-court defense, since there isn’t much size to combat the opposition’s post players, regular season success with the small-ball style seems a moot point.
Then there’s the next big question: What happens when the small-ball style isn’t even working in the regular season?
Click to continue reading How to Fix the Golden State Warriors
2009-2010 NBA Rookies Off to Hot Start
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Athletes, Editorial, NBA
A number of NBA experts were quick to label the 2009 NBA Draft as a “weak” draft. However, several rookies are showing nothing but brilliance at the start of the 2009-2010 NBA season and could have a lot more to offer than many had thought. While Blake Griffin, the rookie everyone thought would win the Rookie of the Year award hands down is out for the next six-to-eight weeks, several other youngsters are making strong cases.
Click to continue reading 2009-2010 NBA Rookies Off to Hot Start
Most of the sports world focus rests in New York tonight, as the Yankees and Phillies kick off the World Series. I joined a packed house as the Toronto Raptors kicked off their season against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Some observations need to be made directly, and what follows are some overall impressions of the game, the teams, and the players, as well as some fantasy impact thrown in.
Click to continue reading First hand review of Toronto Raptors Season Opener 2009-2010
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