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Not much surprising Thursday, as the Lakers and Cavs both won on the road.  For a while, it looked like the Suns might be able to pull a win but no.  I think the coffin has been nailed shut, wheeled out, and thrown into the Grand Canyon now.

Thursday’s best: Nobody else but LeBron James.  It’s his third triple-double in as many games, as he went for 34 points, 10 boards, and 13 dimes with 3 steals and 3 blocks.  Is there any real question who the MVP is right now?

Thursday’s worst:
The Phoenix Suns.  It’s a sad time in Phoenix, let me tell you.  It’s over.  Gone.  Done for.  And maybe now I’ll stop talking about the Suns for the rest of the season.  I want to.

Keep an eye on: The Suns bench.  Now that it’s obvious they’re toast, we may see some Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic action.  Just sayin’.

What to watch for Friday:  A pretty large docket Friday, with some pretty crappy games.  The best is probably Dallas at Golden State.  Hey, what else do you want me to say when there are gems like Knicks-Timberwolves and Bulls-76ers?  Pacers-Hawks might be worth watching.  Maybe.


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On Tuesday, the Pistons kept their hot streak going, as Chauncey Billups returned to The Palace, dropped 34, and still lost.  Don’t look now…

Tuesday’s best:  Not a whole lot of overly-impressive lines Tuesday night, but Troy Murphy takes home today’s award.  His line: 23 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 threes, 2 steals, 2 blocks as he led the Pacers to a win over the Kings.

Tuesday’s worst:  John Salmons.  Dude, Luol Deng is hurt.  You’re supposed to go back to being that fantasy stud you used to be.  This scrub played 33 minutes in the Bulls’ loss to Charlotte and scored 9 points on 4-13 shooting.  SCRUB!!

Keep an eye on:  The East playoff race.  The 15th team (Toronto) is only 5.5 games back, and two teams (Indiana and Charlotte) look awfully good right now and keep climbing the standings.  It’s gonna be a fun month.

What to watch for Wednesday: Cleveland hosts Milwaukee (remember what LeBron James did to the Deer the last time they played), Dwyane Wade lights up Phoenix (like every other team, just bigger), San Antonio plays Dallas on ESPN (and probably runs them out of the arena), and last but NOT least… the Grizzlies play the Clippers!


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Looking over the box scores, something jumped out and screamed “HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL, IS THAT A TYPO?”  Those Celtics who looked even better without Kevin Garnett lost to… the Clippers.  Wow.  The Clipper that lost by 40 a week ago.  They beat the defending champs.  Wow.  Maybe Brian Scalabrine is the MVP of that team?

Wednesday’s best: Very tough to pick one, so we’ll pick two.  Tony Parker had another great game, with 39 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists, with just one turnover. Devin Harris also had a great game (seriously, dude is on fire right now) with 42 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.  He also was 11-11 from the line and had 3 threes made.  It would be unfair to also not to mention Dwight Howard’s 24 points, 21 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

Wednesday’s worst: Jared Jeffries.  I’m a big D’Antoni guy, but seriously, why is he starting?  What do the Knicks benefit by having him in there?  I saw some of the Pacers game Tuesday, and this guy is a waste of a roster spot.  Tonight he went off to the tune of… zero points, zero rebounds, zero ANYTHING besides his one block and five fouls.  In 17 minutes.

Keep an eye on: Goran Dragic.  Steve Nash is a game-time decision tomorrow, and if he misses some time, Dragic is your guy.  He’s played well under new coach Alvin Gentry, and even if Nash does play, he should see increased minutes while Nash gets a little more rest than usual for that bum ankle.

What to watch for Thursday:  It’s a TNT Thursday, which honestly kind of sucks.  Cleveland and Houston might be a good game.  Might be.  The Lakers will likely stomp all over the Suns, especially if Nash doesn’t play.  Oh well, what can we really expect from a two-game Thursday schedule?


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Seriously, when’s this gonna stop?

Last night, Jason Terry left the game in the first half with what turned out to be a broken left hand.  Ouchie.  Looks like Juan Jose Barea is the big winner here.  He’s worth a look if you’ve got the room for sure.

Then tonight, Al Jefferson left late in the game with a knee injury.  He had to be helped off the court, which of course makes us all cringe.  He’ll have test run tomorrow, so we’ll have to wait on his status.  Kevin Love should be getting a little more love as long as he’s out, but again, it’s too early to tell.
UPDATE: ESPN.com is reporting a torn ACL.  A surgery date has not been set, and neither has any sort of timetable.  But it can’t be good, and that’s for sure.  Ryan Gomes and Love are the big winners here.
UPDATE AGAIN: Looks like it’s for the year.  Oh my.

Also tonight, Mike Dunleavy Jr. re-injured that right knee that forced him to miss 34 games.  What rough luck.  We don’t know his status yet either, but we can go back to business as usual while he was out it looks like.


Mike Dunleavy, Corey BrewerNearly forgotten swingman Mike Dunleavy Jr. may be close to making a start for the Indiana Pacers.

After being sidelined for the entire season thus far with a knee injury, Dunleavy has started practicing and is up to a reported 20 minute sessions.  The next step is obviously going to be five-on-five contact drills, ensuring that the knee is alright and that Dunleavy himself is up to par from a conditioning standpoint.

Not that I expect a complete fall-off of the other Pacers, but this obviously means not-so-good things for other scoring options like Danny Granger and Marquis Daniels.  Daniels owners may want to start sticking some trade feelers out as he’s in line to take the biggest hit from the pending Dunleavy return.


Dropping Dimes is trying out a new feature. Fantasy 30 intends to rank all of the NBA teams in terms of fantasy power. A list like this tends to lead to a lot of disagreement and discussion, but the hope is that these rankings will be fluid and updated as the year goes on. Thanks to Ron Chow for the assist. In addition to publishing updates on the Fantasy 30, once in a while we hope to produce sister articles that focus on a specific team and its roster.

#1: Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant ranks as a top four fantasy player this year. The Lakers employ two fantasy-worthy starters for center in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Lamar Odom has played well coming off the bench. Jordan Farmar has sleeper point guard potential, and the team also employs three-point threats like Derek Fisher and Vlad Radmanovic. All of this adds up to the Lakers being top dog early in the year.

Click to continue reading Fantasy 30, Version 1


Danny Granger
Oh, Rob Babcock, why did you pass on this guy twice for the likes of Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham? Perhaps concerns lingered about his health, or he just did not want to cross the border north. Still, on the theoretical front, having Danny Granger at the small forward slot alongside Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal would have made a very formidable front line, fantasy or otherwise.

Granger had a break-out season in 2007-08. Can he continue to elevate his game to top 20 in fantasyland?

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 8: Danny Granger


AI vs. DeronTo the three voters for the All-NBA team that did not name Chris Paul to the first team; you need to seriously have your head examined. Two voters picked Steve Nash instead and one vote went to Tracy McGrady. Come on, people! To pick Nash ahead of Paul means you have not watched ball since last season. The Hornets had a better record, Paul did more with less established talent around him, not to mention he had superior overall stats. As for McGrady, I guess it was a nod to the Rockets’ winning streak.

Nash was in action last week. Does he get to move on? Paul suits up this week, so check out who we have him partnered with? And the picture gives you a preview of who else is part of our hype match-ups this week!

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Two-on-Two Tourney: Round 1, Games 9 and 10


Baron Davis and his beard taking a jumperMost of us fantasy fanatics are in some sort of consolation play this week. After all, only two teams in each league can vie for the championship. How are things over in the “real” NBA? Well, the Golden State Warriors are playing almost .600 ball and are still trying to claw into playoff position. How’s that for a tough break?

In my league with family and friends, the teams in the consolation bracket battle for draft position next year. The winner of the consolation playoffs gets the first overall pick, the runner-up gets second pick and so on. It’s enough incentive for everyone to continue setting their lineups, and it’s enough of a prize that people take it seriously enough to put forth the effort. If you have a league with little GM turnover year to year, this is something you can do so that everyone can enjoy fantasy hoops right to the very last day, not just the finalists.

Perhaps the NBA should adopt a consolation playoff format and the winner gets first pick in the draft. This certainly would guard against bad teams tanking it at the end of the season.

Click to continue reading Consolation Playoffs in the NBA?


Danny GrangerIn the previous post, Alvin mentioned that Nels from Give Me The Rock nabbed Luol Deng with the 41st pick overall - a bit earlier than he was taken in the Dropping Dimes Mock Blog.  In the fourth round, Nels came back around and nabbed another forward in Kevin Durant showing us all that centers are obviously overrated.  How did he respond with the 13th pick in the fifth round?  You guessed it…another forward with the 69th selection overall.  Not too far off from where the fellas over here at Dropping Dimes had the same guy pegged with this selection…

Round 6, Pick 4: Danny Granger, SF/PF, Indiana Pacers

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Mock Draft 2007: Round 6, Pick 4 - Danny Granger


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