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Yao Ming can't play, but he can modelI am back like Jack Bauer! Unlike Jack’s dramatic return from a Chinese prison, I was freed (booted?) from my parent’s basement. Now semi-acclimated to life on my own (thank god for the microwave!), I am ready to make a contribution to Dropping Dimes. Thanks to Dennis, Sarge, and Alvin for holding down the DD fort.

What the heck did I miss? What is up with all the injuries to key fantasy players?! In all my years in fantasy basketball, I don’t remember a season where so many players have been knocked out with injuries like a Mirko Cro Cop high kick (He is going to wreck havoc in the UFC!). In one of my leagues, a GM lost his top four picks to injuries (Chris Paul, Yao Ming, Josh Smith and Rashard Lewis). The poor GM had his playoff hopes dashed in the month of December. Them’s the breaks. In this edition of the Injury Lowdown I will give a quick rundown of key injuries and some players to keep an eye on.

Click to continue reading Injury Lowdown - What the Heck Did I Miss?!?!


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Who, you?  Yes, you, Yao!Stat’s All Folks will be a week-to-week stock market look at the standard cumulative categories – points, assists, rebounds, three-pointers made, steals, and blocks.  I’ll be calling out the “bulls” and “bears” in each category, in order to help you assess your portfolio of players on your fantasy basketball team(s) and whether you should sell, hold, and/or diversify your assets. 

Note that you won’t always see the superstar player written about in this column, otherwise it would be LeBron James or Steve Nash every week.  So, check out who’s bullish and who’s bearish coming into the week.

Statistics are through December 14th – December 20th.

POINTS

BULLISH

Yao Ming, C, Houston Rockets
Last Week’s Numbers of Note: 4 G; 34.8 PPG; 50.9 FG%; 91.2 FT%

Usually, the top scorers are coming from everywhere BUT the center position.  Indeed, the dominating scoring big man in the middle is a dying breed, but Yao Ming refuses to lay down softly and go the way of the Thighmaster.  Face it people, Yao is here to stay unlike the Suzanne Somers product and he is undeniably the best center in the NBA.  In his four games last week, Yao scored no less than 32 points in each contest and was feeling it so much he even attempted a trey from downtown!  He miseed, but that’s about the only shot he’ll ever clang off the rim.  And unlike other players that make a living down in the post, Yao hits his free throws allowing him to accumulate points from the charity stripe.  Obviously, hold on to Yao like your league championship depended on it because it just might.

Click to continue reading Stat’s All Folks: Yao = Best Center


Gilbert ArenasStat’s All Folks will be a week-to-week stock market look at the standard cumulative categories – points, assists, rebounds, three-pointers made, steals, and blocks.  I’ll be calling out the “bulls” and “bears” in each category, in order to help you assess your portfolio of players on your fantasy basketball team(s) and whether you should sell, hold, and/or diversify your assets. 

Note that you won’t always see the superstar player written about in this column, otherwise it would be LeBron James or Steve Nash every week.  So, check out who’s bullish and who’s bearish coming into the week.

Statistics are through December 7th – December 13th.

POINTS

BULLISH

Gilbert Arenas, PG, Washington Wizards
Last Week’s Numbers of Note: 3 G; 35.7 PPG; 47.9 FG%; 78.1 FT%

What does Benihana and Arenas have in common?  HIBACHI!!!  Apparently, whenever Agent Zero takes a shot, he’s saying the word “hibachi” with each stroke.  This is just another example of Arenas’ quirky ways, but there’s no questioning it’s working, is there?  Arenas is scoring a little more than six points more in the month of December than he did in November, thanks to slicing to the basket and getting to the charity stripe almost ten times a game.  There hasn’t been this much success being off-kilter since Pee Wee Herman.  Arenas’ stock is high, so keep your hands on him.

Click to continue reading Stat’s All Folks: HIBACHI!!!


Steve NashWell, there’s a lot going on with the Dropping Dimes team, so it looks like there won’t be enough diversity in the rankings with myself and Sarge being the only ones able to drop rankings.  But, have no fear, we’re still the best fantasy basketball team out there (along with the fine folks at Give Me The Rock), so peep the rankings for Week Seven, but first check the number of games for each team.  Word.

Atlanta Hawks - 4; Boston Celtics - 4; Charlotte Bobcats - 3; Chicago Bulls - 4; Cleveland Cavaliers - 4; Dallas Mavericks - 4; Denver Nuggets - 4; Detroit Pistons - 3; Golden State Warriors - 4; Houston Rockets - 4; Indiana Pacers - 4; Los Angeles Clippers - 4; Los Angeles Lakers - 4; Memphis Grizzlies - 4; Miami Heat - 4; Milwaukee Bucks - 4; Minnesota Timberwolves - 3; New Jersey Nets - 4; New Orleans Hornets - 3; New York Knicks - 4; Orlando Magic - 4; Philadelphia 76ers - 4; Phoenix Suns - 4; Portland Trail Blazers - 3; Sacramento Kings - 3; San Antonio Spurs - 4; Seattle Supersonics - 4; Toronto Raptors - 4; Utah Jazz - 4; Washington Wizards - 3

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Staff Week Seven Position Rankings


Eddy CurryStat’s All Folks will be a week-to-week stock market look at the standard cumulative categories – points, assists, rebounds, three-pointers made, steals, and blocks.  I’ll be calling out the “bulls” and “bears” in each category, in order to help you assess your portfolio of players on your fantasy basketball team(s) and whether you should sell, hold, and/or diversify your assets. 

Note that you won’t always see the superstar player written about in this column, otherwise it would be LeBron James or Steve Nash every week.  So, check out who’s bullish and who’s bearish coming into the week.

Statistics are through November 29th – December 5th.

POINTS

BULLISH

Eddy Curry, C, New York Knicks
Last Week’s Numbers of Note: 4 G; 25.3 PPG; 60.3 FG%; 60.8 FT%

I’ll admit and say that I was a non-believer.  And to some degree I still am – I’ll chalk that up to me being a disgruntled Knicks fan.  But, I simply could not believe that Eddy Curry scoring as much as he was the week before was the real deal.  If Howie Mandel was in front of me, I would have emphatically said, “NO DEAL!”  But, you can’t argue with seven games in a row of 20+ points because instead of Curry’s physique blowing up, his post game is.  Buy into it because head coach Isiah Thomas has, recently saying that Curry was the key to the team and that’s music to every Curry owner’s ears.  Hopefully it doesn’t turn out to sound like an American Idol tryout.

Click to continue reading Stat’s All Folks: Let’s Get Spicy!


7.10 Raja Bell, SG, Phoenix Suns

Raja BellWith a team that is obviously slanted towards the small-ball categories, it’s tough to still be lacking one main small-ball trait: three-point shooters.  The point guards that anchor this squad are Chris Paul and Steve Nash – neither of which would be considered gunners by any means.  Nash will surely chip in his fair share of long-balls, but Gilbert Arenas, he is not.

So, I chose the route of adding a few guys that will chip in from the three point line, but a little below the radar.  Mehmet Okur is good for a little less than one bomb a game.  Troy Murphy is no stranger to launching from behind the arc, to the tune of about one make every other game.  Add in Manu Ginobili and his three a game, and you have yourself quite a sneaky group of shooters.  A sneaky group of shooters that is about one piece away from yet another category on lock-down.

Enter, Raja Bell.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Draft Blog: Round 7, Pick 10


Boris Diaw

Jack-of-all-trades, master of none is a figure of speech, that describes a person who is competent with many skills, but is not very good with one particular skill.

Boris Diaw was a compensation throw-in from the Atlanta Hawks for the Joe Johnson signing. In Phoenix, Diaw flourished into Fantasy Gold and was truly a jack-of-all-trades. He can shoot, rebound, pass, and play defense.  Diaw’s position versatility was a major attraction to fantasy owners as he had eligibility to play in SG, SF, PF, and C slots.  Diaw’s versatility was necessary with Amare Stoudemire sidelined for most of last season.  Diaw’s play did not go unnoticed; he won the Most Improved Player award last year. Now with Amare Stoudemire back this season what impact will Diaw have on the court and your fantasy team?

Round 4, Pick 7: Boris Diaw, PF/C, Phoenix Suns

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Draft Blog: Round 4, Pick 7


Amare Stoudemire I’ve never seen it happen, but trust me folks when I say that you can even get snaked in mock drafts!  With Chauncey Billups in mind to pair with LeBron James, I had a perfect one-two punch from my first two selections.  But, such is life.  Regroup yourself, and keep on picking!  Instead of going the point-guard way and settling for a lesser player, I decided to take this thing a different route.  As I see the drop-off in big men taking a steep turn by the time I would get to pick again, I had no choice but to take at least one center-eligible player at the turn.  And who better to pair up with King James than one of the most exciting and explosive players in the game?

Round 2, Pick 12: Amare Stoudemire, PF/C, Phoenix Suns

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Draft Blog: Round 2, Pick 12


Ben Wallace is now a BullRound 2, Pick 10: Ben Wallace, PF/C, Chicago Bulls

After signing a four year, $60 million dollar deal during the offseason to join the Chicago Bulls, there are big expectations for the team this upcoming season.  Can one man really make that much of a difference?  Well, when you have personnel in place and have the foresight and vision on how you want to build a team, the answer is YES.  Big Ben Wallace will make a difference on the Bulls and guess what.

He can make a difference for your fantasy basketball team as well.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Draft Blog: Round 2, Pick 10


Round 2, Pick 3: Steve Nash, PG, Phoenix Suns Description

While I’m not usually one to stockpile a certain category in fantasy basketball, I have no shame in locking one up within my first two selections.  How am I going to do that, you ask?  Well, kind reader, by adding 10.5 assists per game to my fantasy roster, which also includes a guy who could one day, be dropping double-digits on his own.  And while it disgruntles me as a fan to say it, the reigning two-time MVP will be a very nice fit on this fantasy roster.

With a guy that even Nelly Furtado finds time to rhyme about, there are only a few certain things in life.  Death, taxes, and Steve Nash assists.  Is there downside?  Sure there is.  However, it’s the promise, and the new hairstyle, that will have a welcomed home on this fantasy squad.

Click to continue reading Dropping Dimes Draft Blog: Round 2, Pick 3


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