By Dan O’Shea
There is nothing more annoying in the world of head-to-head fantasy sports than when you forget to set your roster. It’s even more annoying than when you see another manager in your league pick up one of your waiver wire rejects just when that player happens to go on a hot streak. You have only yourself to blame.
I’m usually pretty good about making my daily changes and perusing match-ups to make sure I lock in the best choices. I even managed to stay current a couple Fridays ago when an afternoon bender and a run to pick up the pooch at doggie daycare severely squeezed the time I usually take to double-check my fantasy hoops roster in advance of nightly tip-offs.
But I have twice over the last week failed to lock in my starters before their games began. Unforgivable.
The first time, last Friday, I somehow miss-clicked “submit” after making some changes, which left Danilo Gallinari on the bench, along with 26 points and five three-pointers that would have been very helpful. Wouldn’t you know it, those treys proved to be the difference in a losing week for my team.
The second time, this week on MLK Day, I forgot about the busy afternoon slate of games that has become the annual tradition and didn’t get credit for Al Jefferson’s 23 points and 13 rebounds. There’s still a lot of this week left, but if my squad loses at the end of it by a handful of rebounds I may demote myself to towel-boy.
In any case, don’t let this happen to you.
It’s Week 13 of the NBA season, and here’s some news you can use. Just make sure you click “submit.”
*
Fantasy Find of the Week: Martell Webster, SG/SF, Portland. He was a late sleeper pick in a few drafts, but is currently only 52% owned in Yahoo! leagues. He averaged 19 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 treys and 1.3 blocks last week. May see more minutes with Brandon Roy’s ongoing injury problems.
Fantasy Stud of the Week: O.J. Mayo, SG, Memphis. He was having a disappointing season until his last 10 games or so. In the last week, he’s averaged 20.5 PPG, but his .500 field goal shooting is the more impressive and, hopefully, more fortuitous stat.
Fantasy Dud of the Week: Kobe Bryant, SG, LA Lakers. The finger injury from a few weeks back has slowed a guy who usually toughs it out through such problems. 16.8 PPG over the last week is fine for most guys, but not when you usually average 28.3. The bad finger also seems to be affecting his free throw shooting and steals.
Fantasy Match-up of the Week: Danny Granger, SG/SF/PF, Indiana. He’s averaging 24 PPG since coming back from a bad foot injury, and what could be better for a star on the mend than three games coming up against powder puffs? This Thursday night, he goes against swooning Detroit and then has a back-to-back series’ against pliable Philly.
Expert Wire
* Yahoo! Court Report’s Week 13 Dashboard likes Matt Barnes, Luke Ridnour and Francisco Garcia, among others with busy slates this week.
* The fantasy basketball world was abuzz last week when, on the eve of his apparent return from injury, No. 1 rookie pick Blake Griffin became the latest victim of the Clippers Curse.
* SLAM Online analyzes the latest NBA trade rumor involving big names: Could New Orleans’ David West be going to Cleveland for Zydrunas Ilgauskas? It’s one of those man-for-man deals that would never happen in a fantasy league, though I wonder if the fading Ilgauskas could score a few more points in a Hornets uni, while West could take fewer shots as a Cav.
* Fantasy Basketball Cafe’s Sleeper Watch wakes up to Kris Humphries, SF/PF, who saw a change of scenery from Dallas to New Jersey. Amazingly, Humphries averaged 15 PPG in his first three games for the woeful Nets, so maybe FBC/SW is on to something here.
* RotoExperts likes Corey Brewer, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Roy Hibbert, among other. But CDR had the flu recently, so his last two games have been busts.
* Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, CBS Sports.com highlights the recent career-best play of Haiti’s own Samuel Dalembert.
* And finally . . . is it already that time again? CBS Sports.com has its top 300 fantasy baseball picks. I’m still struggling with my top 20, and refuse to publish it any earlier than the start of spring training.
–
Dan O’Shea’s Fantasy Fix appears in this space every Wednesday. Comments welcome. You can also read his about his split sports fan personality at SwingsBothWays, which isn’t about what it sounds like It’s about.
Posted on January 20, 2010