FanHouse Martell Webster

Apparently, when you're a pretty good team but lose to the Warriors, it's time to make some changes. Even if you don't necessarily want to.

And that's what happened with coach Nate McMillan and the Blazers over the weekend. After losing to Golden State 108-94 on Friday night at Oracle Arena, lo and behold there was a different starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Timberwolves: Andre Miller out; Martell Webster in.

Gone is the three-guard starting lineup featuring Steve Blake, Miller and Brandon Roy, and McMillan explained the change pretty matter-of-factly to The Oregonian before his team blew out Minnesota on Saturday: "I want to give the team back to Brandon. It's his team."

Welcome to the first edition of Home Delivery, your comprehensive roundup of last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Read along each morning as we bring the headline news to you in a format your grandpa would appreciate -- wait, what's a newspaper?

Man Ditches Agent Zero and Gets With Agent Hero

Gilbert Arenas returned to action Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks. As an Arenas owner, I'm a bit giddy over his performance -- 29 points, nine assists, 10-of-21 shooting from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. It's easy to look at his performance and state that he's "officially back," but we need to contain ourselves and play it cool. At least for one day.

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Kobe Bryant finished this reverse dunk against the Blazers last night, and in the process helped his team to pass the Boston Celtics in the league-wide standings.

Thanks to a bizarro night in the Association -- one where the Celtics fell to the Knicks, and LeBron's crab dribble couldn't save the Cavs from losing a close one in Washington -- the Lakers now own the NBA's best record with a 27-5 mark through the team's first 32 games.

Of course, it's not like they're running away with it or anything; the Celtics have actually played three more games, and have won two of them. The Lakers have the advantage by mere percentage points (.844 to .829), and are just a half a game ahead of Cleveland, with the same amount of wins but one fewer loss.

It may be a bit early to start talking about home court advantage throughout the playoffs, but it's worth noting that the top of the East is shaping up to be tougher than the top of the West. The Celtics lead the Cavs by just a single game in the East, and lead the Magic by just two and a half games (again, percentage points). L.A. has it a bit easier out West at the moment, with a slightly more comfortable five and a half game lead over their closest competition, the Spurs and the Nuggets.

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

Cup of Coffee
Joe Smith simply won't go away. Not that we necessarily want him to ... it's just that he doesn't seem to every become totally irrelevant. 12 years in the L after being a first overall pick and once the single handed destruction of the Minnesota T-wolve franchise, Smith has been getting kinda warm again. For December he had 10 double digit scoring games and averaged over 10 points a game and in 2008 he's over 20 per game. Granted it's only two outings, but hey, it does not make it untrue. Don't think it's going to last that long -- regardless of who is running the Bulls rotation and offensive schemes you can expect Tyrus Thomas to emerge sooner than later as the starting power forward -- so Smith is a prime sell high right now. Just make sure the commissioner knows about it.

Hot Cakes
"Kid Delicious" Kevin Durant returned from a one game finger injury absence on Thursday and scored 28 points with seven boards against the Suns. Everybody breathe. Durant appears to be fine (11 of 24 certainly isn't horrible) and remains a nice buy if his owner is struggling in the field goal percentage cat and you have some room to spare.

Travis Outlaw scored 21 on a disappointing 19 shots but there's nothing boring about 38 minutes of playing time, especially when the Blazers win. Outlaw outplayed (again) Martell Webster, but it looks like Webster might continue starting, although Outlaw will continue to get the majority of the PT, with the Blazers deferring to the classic "hot hand" occasionally. Outlaw's the guy you want.

Speaking of older doods, Michael Finley kept up his recent hot streak as the Spurs toppled the Nuggets, scoring 18 points with eight boards in 38 minutes of court time. That's nine straight games in double digits and his scoring has obviously boosted with Manu Ginobili out. Ginobili's missed four games and is nearing a return, making Finley an obvious sell high. He's going to see a drop in time and scoring clearly, but he should still start, which is a crucial point to use when trying to package him as part of a deal.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a daily (9:00 a.m.) look at what happened last night in the NBA from a fantasy perspective. Visit early and often, or just save yourself the hassle and bookmark it.

Cup of Coffee
I was high all pre-season on Craig Smith, ever since he closed out April of last year averaging 11.3 points and 8.2 boards per game, in just over 30 minutes. Factor in the Kevin Garnett trade, and it seemed naturally that Minnesota would slide Al Jefferson in at center, start Smith at the four and let Ryan Gomes, Corey Brewer and Rashard McCants fight for playing time at the three. Hasn't been the case, obviously, as Gomes has benefited most from the trade in terms of minutes. Production wise, he's been pretty worthless though, averaging just over nine points and four boards per game in 26 some minutes. Smith has had nearly identical stats in just under 19 minutes a game. Last night, he came off the bench to rack up 20 points and nine boards in 27 minutes while Gomes played only eight. Smith is a polished rebounder and scorer, and with the T-Wolves lacking in general talent, there's fantasy production to be had here. Grab him if you need rebounding or have bench space and we'll enjoy him taking the starting role together.

Hot Cakes
In more exciting Timberwolf (does that even work?) news, Marko Jaric returned to the floor. He played 39 minutes and flirted with a trip-dub, scoring 18 points and adding eight boards and nine assists. If he got dropped while hurt, grab him. And while we're here, it's worth mentioning that Corey Brewer started as well, and grabbed a ridiculous 18 boards, scoring six points with five dimes and four steals. If he's starting, he's worthwhile in fantasy, but he's a rookie so expect inconsistency.

Joe Johnson looked to get a little swagger back against Minny last night ... and came up "okay". He scored 21 but shot poorly again, and was again outdone by Josh Smith, who racked up this line: 28/7/2/2/7. I'm not sure there are many players I wouldn't give up for J-Smoove in a roto league right now. Johnson is a nice buy low.

Linas Kleiza scored 23 for Denver in a win, but he's still bench / low-end roster material unless Kenyon Martin gets hurt again, which certainly isn't a huge reach. Stash him if you can afford to -- he's still averaging 10 points a game.

The Travis Outlaw Watch continues, as he scored 20 points with 7 boards and two assists in 22 minutes. Same amount of time for Martell Webster. The result? Four points and one dime. Don't say I didn't tell you to grab him.

Like most people watching Spurs/Blazers last night, I was pleasantly surprised by the Portland Trail Blazers. I knew the Spurs would eventually pull ahead for the win, but I had no idea Portland would look so, well, competent.

Over at The Oregonian, Jason Quick's writing "they were that good." Not quite the same as "they are that good," but nevertheless pretty encouraging:

[This was] verification that everything this team had quietly felt about themselves was indeed true. That LaMarcus Aldridge was ready to fill the shoes of Zach Randolph. That Joel Przybilla had righted his aching body and bruised psyche. That Martell Webster was ready to be a big-time contributor. That Travis Outlaw could be an instant source of scoring off the bench.

And mostly, that this team no longer is a rebuilding project, but rather a team on the rise, on the cusp of perhaps making that big leap from lottery team to playoff contender.

While the last part's a bit much, this team did look really good. And that's without Greg Oden on the floor. The Blazers are still going to get another lottery pick to go alongside Oden, but it's not going to be much of one.

In other news, this does not bode well for those New York Knicks. This same team looked choppy last season, when Zach Randolph was their anchor. Now, they're free-flowing and fairly precise--against the league's best team, no less. Randolph's an excellent scorer on the block, but clearly he was holding Portland back.

In 2005, the Blazers drafted high schooler Martell Webster with the sixth pick. It was higher than Webster had been projected, but Portland wanted some nice guys. I guess they had their scouting report on Danny Granger turned upside down or something. Anyway, Webster has yet to do much, and seemed like an early misstep in what most consider a promising rebuilding effort.

But Webster had a convincing 28 last night, and as The Oregonian reports, has a new lease on ball:

Even though Webster carried hidden insecurities and self-doubt, and even though he placed immense pressure on himself, Webster resisted instruction from his coaches.

"I really kind of regret it," Webster said. "I should have been doing this my first couple of years. These coaches want so bad for us to succeed and when you listen and have an open mind, it goes a long way. I'm getting better every day and learning new things every day, so that's going to benefit me. I have to thank the coaches for that."

Between the gaping absence of Greg Oden and the already-hobbled Brandon Roy, it's looking like 2007-08 will be dismal for the Kevin Pritchard's hand-picked crew. However, if Webster and LaMarcus Aldridge can step up, there could be a silver lining beyond next summer's lottery pick. Though let's not go overboard and count on big things from Channing Frye or Travis Outlaw.

I had a little trouble with the title. Did Doug Christie work for the Trail Blazers, or did he just work with the Trail Blazers? Because there are conflicting reports. From Christie's new blog on MVN:

Coming off my first workout for an NBA team, I am very happy and looking forward to the others I have planned. It felt great to be back on the court with the players and play basketball. When my agent called to tell me they wanted to see me workout, it was great news.

Mike Barrett, the team's play-by-play announcer, had a slightly different version on his blog:

Making a guest appearence at the practice facility today was Doug Christie, who's hoping to get back into the league. The Seattle native was just looking for a place to get a good NBA run in prior to training camp, and decided to come to Portland. He also knows some of the Blazer coaches well, and it never hurts to show someone what you still have left in the tank. The Blazers have 15 on the roster, and therefore don't have any room to sign someone like Christie to a contract. But, you never say never, so I'm not saying it.

So, are the Blazers seriously scouting Christie or simply doing him a favor? After reading both explanations ... I have no idea. I can understand Christie's motivation to make it sound like he's in demand, but it's also possible that Barrett's the one not getting the whole story. Either way, I can't imagine the Blazers will actually offer a contract. Not only is the team already over the roster limit, but they're (relatively) stacked with a crowded backcourt plus a bevy of young swingman in the form of James Jones, Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster that all need a chance to play in order for the Blazers to see what they have for the future.

Also, and this is unrelated but I couldn't figure out how to shoehorn it anywhere else, Jackie Christie, Doug's wife, has a blog. Just thought you should know.

Previously on FanHouse:
You Can Not Kill Doug Christie, You Can Only Hope He'll Retire Someday