B-Ball, B-Fast is a look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.Cup of Coffee
Yao Ming owners have mixed emotions about Tracy McGrady being injured. On the one hand, you get games from Yao like last night, where he puts up 26 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks. On the other hand, you get games from Yao like last night, where he shoots nine of 22 from the field. (And props to Sarge from First and 10 Inches for noting this in the comments previously.) When you are 7'6", you should not be missing half your shots on a ten foot goal. Under any circumstances. Still, these are the facts. Yao's raw numbers will go up and his percentages will go down for as long as T-Mac is hurt. If you're worried about your percentages and have enough boards and blocks, sell high after his next monster game. If you can take the hit but need the big man cats, hold onto and hope he can figure out how to score more efficiently (it should have happened at this point).
Hot Cakes
While we're on the Rockets, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Luther Head got the starting nod and 45 minutes of playing time last night. Bonzi Wells, the usual favorite ride in Adelman-land, saw 30 coming off the bench. I'm chalking it up to the Allen Iverson-at-the-two matchup that Houston was dealing with; Head is better equipped to defend the speedy Iverson there than Wells. Don't go dropping Bonzi but definitely add Head if he's available and your league is deep enough -- his three point shooting prowess alone makes him valuable if he's getting PT. T-Mac is still "questionable" or "day-to-day" for Saturday, depending on who you listen to, so both are decent to strong plays.
Kind of like my boy Josh Boone. Boone got another start at center for the Nets, and I'm going to call 11 points, eight boards and two blocks in 33 minutes against Shaquille O'Neal a pretty nice outing, regardless of how old he is. If you're just "keeping an eye on" Boone, you're probably not doing enough.
Just like Dywane Wade. What does he think? That a 41/5/6/3/3 line is enough to get a team a win? Come on! Just plain lazy. Don't be surprised to see Miami try and make a move on the trading market soon -- he needs some help, badly. Especially when his starting point guard, Chris Quinn, goes down. 13 minutes, three dimes and no points wasn't a result of Jason Williams being young and pressing him for time. The roles will be funky all season long based on whose healthy and getting White Chocolate some rest, but J-Dub should still see the lion's share of minutes and stats.
Spicy little dub-dub for Anderson Varejao, picking up 11 points and 15 boards in 30 plus minutes. Zydrunas Ilgauskas got a shade under 30 and did much less, only recording five boards. Varejao is younger and Big Z was worn down last year so there could be a shift in the minutes coming. Or the Cavs could just go big when they face teams that are stronger in the paint. Either way, Varejao should be rostered in deeper leagues and at least considered in shallow ones.
