FanHouse Marcus Williams

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.

In this video Marcus Williams tells about the origin of the Martin Luther King quote tattooed across this chest, but the interview really gets interesting around 1:50, when Smush overhears him downplaying the talent coming out of New York.


Video link.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

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If you don't get the Bad Boys reference, I'm sorry. It appears my time has passed me by. Anywho, Kyle Lowry got the most run of the trio of young Memphis point guards last night, seeing 32 minutes and scoring 24 points with four assists and two steals. Javaris Crittenton had 30 minutes and scored 17 points with four assists and a steal, while Mike Conley, Jr., scored zero points (0 for six shooting) with one assist and a steal in 16 minutes. All of this is important, because for the rest of the season, the Grizzlies are essentially having a tryout for point guard. Whoever is playing well will keep getting the run. I love Conley, and he's legit, but I think people undervalue Lowry. Since it appears he's not going to have a tremendous leash, well, adjust accordingly.

Hot Cakes
Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes are both starters now (do these guys have dirt on a slew of NBA coaches?). Hughes put up eight points with five assists and two steals in 25 minutes while Gooden went nuts, albeit against Memphis, for 21 points and 14 rebounds. It's classic sell high on either guy, although they're certainly doing their best to spite LeBron James at this point.

Mike Miller has been out almost the equivalent of a week in NBA games for the Grizzlies, but is expected to return tonight. Consider holding him out one more game because back injuries = bad field goal percentage.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

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Stephen A. Smith rolled over in his vocal-chord enhancing cyborg chamber last night as Rasho Nesterovic posted a very nice line -- 16 points, five boards and three blocks -- with Chris Bosh beginning to sit out a week with a knee issue. Nesterovic isn't going to set the world on fire, but he can be a nice option in deeper leagues for boards and blocks over the next week, and as long as Bosh stays injured, he's a cheap filler. Plus, he kind of looks like Dwight Schrute, so that's a bonus.

Hot Cakes
It's safe to say Devin Harris is going to take that starter's job in New Jersey. He scored another 21 off the bench last night with five boards and two dimes in 35 minutes; Marcus Williams had eight points with three boards and two dimes, plus four turnovers in only 18 minutes. Get prepared to see Williams' minutes continue to dive.

Luis Scola went off for 18 points and 14 boards against the Nuggets. With Yao Ming done for the season, you could really see that Scola felt a need to carry the offensive load. Unlikely he's available in your league, but if he is, get ready for a boost in value for the remainder of the season.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

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We know that Devin Harris will start (we do know that, right?) for New Jersey once he returns from injury. But you best believe that in the meantime, and probably after, the Nets are going to give Marcus Williams plenty of run. He got it in overtime last night, scoring 25 points with four boards and four assists. And yeah, his team won and he awkwardly outplayed Jason Kidd as well. If Williams is floating around or is on your bench, grab him/get him active; he should be a great source of points and light assists over the next week or so.

Hot Cakes
The word out of Milwaukee is that Charlie Villanueva will start for the rest of the season. He's been beasty when motivated before, so make him a priority add this morning if he's available. (Yes, I am aware that he only got eight points and three boards last night ... doesn't matter.)

Robert Swift will also be seeing a big bump in playing time, as the Sonics see what they've got in the soon-to-be restricted free agent. Kurt Thomas is now out of town, so Swift should be a great source for blocks and boards the rest of the way home -- pre-injury he had shown some serious fantasy potential and was always a pre-season sleeper fave.

I missed this until now, but last weekend a rumor surfaced about the Nets and Pacers talking trade, and a big one at that: Jermaine O'Neal for Vince Carter. From Al Iannazzone of the Bergen Record (hat-tip: CSTB):

The Nets and Pacers, who discussed a multiplayer swap involving O'Neal in June, renewed talks recently, according to league sources familiar with the conversations.

The new proposal would send Carter, Marcus Williams and Jamaal Magloire to Indiana for O'Neal. ... The Nets would rather have Indiana take [Jason] Collins (two years, $12.3 million) instead of Magloire (one year, $4 million) to alleviate the luxury-tax hit. But the Pacers don't want Collins.

If there's any truth to this, maybe it's the reason why the Pacers were so quick to put the kabash on J.O.'s talking up the severity of the bone bruise on his right knee. Or, since we're talking conspiracy theories, maybe the reason J.O. started talking about sitting out the rest of the season was because he caught wind of the rumor and wanted to sabotage any talks.

If O'Neal eventually got healthy and returned to form, this would certainly help balance New Jersey's offense. Adding Carter to the Pacers, meanwhile, would be like pouring gasoline on a fire. Believe it or not, Indiana is already the East's top scoring team, averaging 103.6 points per game ... but they also give up 105.1 each night. Removing O'Neal would make them even worse on defense and even more potent on offense. I don't know how the starting lineup would shake out -- could Danny Granger play the four? Because Mike Dunleavy would almost certainly shift from the two-guard to small forward -- but it'd be fun to watch.