BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) If the NBA is taking a break to put on its All-Star Game, I might as well take this time to go over the RBTN All-Star Team as it stands right now.
These five players have been the best fantasy-wise through the first half-plus of the season. They are on the squad because they contribute in multiple categories, they have rarely missed games this season and they have been the best at their positions. So forget about crazy introductions with overdone lighting and loud hip-hop. Here is the team:
(Guard) Kobe Bryant, Lakers: You may despise him, especially if you are a fantasy owner of Lamar Odom, but love him or hate him, he has been the MVP in fantasy basketball up to this juncture. Phil Jackson’s triangle offense has revolved around Kobe. That is why he leads the league at 35 points per game. But besides the 81-point outburst and his numerous huge scoring nights, the reason Bryant is so awesome for fantasy hoops is because of how well he does in other categories, namely rebounds (5.4), assists (4.4) and three-pointers (104).
(Guard) Dwyane Wade, Heat: Shaq’s little buddy has surpassed “The Diesel” as the top fantasy performer in Miami. D-Wade has not let Antoine Walker steal his shots or Jason Williams mess him up with wild passes. Wade remains one of the top triple-threats in fantasy hoops, giving his owners 27.4 points, 6.8 assists and 5.9 rebounds per night.
(Center) Tim Duncan, Spurs: The Pete Sampras of basketball qualifies as a center in most fantasy leagues, so he gets the nod here over the injury-riddled Shaquille O’ Neal and Yao Ming in what has been a weak year for men in the middle. Duncan’s numbers are down a tad thanks to the emergence of Tony Parker, but fantasy owners still love his 19.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per contest.
(Forward) LeBron James, Cavaliers: “King” James has been crowning defenders all season long, torching zones and man-to-mans for 31.2 ppg. Even though he does not score as much as Kobe does, LeBron’s fantasy value is probably higher because he grabs more boards (7.0) and dishes out more assists (6.6) than Bryant does.
(Forward) Elton Brand, Clippers: Kudos to Phoenix’s Shawn Marion and Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett for making this a tough decision, but big man Brand deserves this spot in the spotlight. He is currently in the NBA’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage. And if that was not enough to garner an RBTN All-Star nod, Brand is hitting 78 percent of his free throws and adding 2.7 assists per game.
WEEK 17 PREVIEW: Schedules: You would think that teams rested enough during the All-Star Break, but several only play two games next week. Those teams are Denver, Miami, Phoenix, Sacramento, Toronto and Utah. Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Jersey, New Orleans, Orlando, Portland, San Antonio, Seattle and the Los Angeles Lakers play four games. The rest of the teams in the league play three.
Nicest sked: Portland.###Have no fear, Darius Miles is back. Who knows how long he will stay healthy and stay on coach Nate McMillan’s good side, but enjoy him while he lasts. His Trail Blazers host Charlotte, New Orleans and Boston and play at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nastiest sked: Boston.###Big surprise, Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olokowandi are not Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Wally World is averaging 16.6 ppg and Kandi Man 2.3 ppg since the trade, about three points lower per game than they were scoring with Minnesota.. The new-look Celtics go on the road to play at Utah, Phoenix, Portland and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Three players worthy of gold medals:
Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets: The only reason I can think of for why Anthony was snubbed out of an All-Star selection is because the NBA must have gotten him confused with that psycho Kenyon Martin. No matter.###Fantasy owners know he has been one of the best this season, with ‘Melo averaging 26.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Speedy Claxton, Hornets: With Rookie of the Year frontrunner Chris Paul injured thanks to the Sports Illustrated jinx, Claxton has stepped into the starting lineup and done just fine running the show, scoring 62 points and adding 28 assists over his last three games.
Ben Gordon, Bulls: It took long enough for Chicago coach Scott Skiles to realize that Gordon should be in the starting lineup. Gordon has been lighting it up lately better than most two-guards, with four 30-point games already this month.
Three players worthy of paper medals:
Larry Hughes, Cavaliers: Hughes has to have a second surgery on the middle finger of his right hand because the first surgery did not do much good. He is expected to miss at least the rest of the regular season. This is not good news for Hughes’ fantasy owners, but it probably is for LeBron James’.
Jarvis Hayes, Wizards: The All-Star Break will not help Hayes heal up. He might miss the remainder of the regular season because of kneecap surgery. Fantasy owners will have to find someone else to score 9.3 ppg for them.
Mike Sweetney, Bulls: Has Sweetney disappeared into the witness protection program or something? His playing time has been cut in half since the start of the season, and he is only averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds for February. Not so sweet.
Rot Water Cooler Three things being talked about more than luge and curling at the Winter Olympics:
The return of Amare Stoudemire: We keep hearing about Stoudemire doing everything from taking foul shots, running wind sprints, lifting weights and playing video games. Fantasy owners have four words for the Phoenix forward get on the court!
The Seattle-Los Angeles Clippers trade: Seattle traded disgruntled sixth man Vladimir Radmanovic to Los Angeles for backup power forward Chris Wilcox. Vlad-Rad is good for three-pointers and that is about it. Wilcox is good for about 13 minutes a game. In other words, neither is good for fantasy owners.
The Darko Milicic deal: The world champ Detroit Pistons finally cut their losses with the second pick of the 2003 draft, sending Milicic and reserve point guard Carlos Arroyo to Orlando for stiff center Kelvin Cato and a first-round draft choice. Here is to hoping Steve Francis is packaged somewhere shortly so he does not infect Darko with his negativity.
For more information on Craig and his columns, visit www.publishedauthors.net/craigrondinone.
