I’ll start this off with an apology for this weekend. It was a rough weekend in more ways then one in the Lambert household. First, neither my Saturday NBA lineup nor my Sunday NFL lineup did much of anything. Second, as a lifelong 49er fan, seeing the Seahawks going back to the Super Bowl was upsetting, not to mention my wife is a Packer fan. Then finally, I had LTE phone issues and was unable to run an NBA Fanduel lineup through my app on the go, nor could I post a blog yesterday. If there are any Seahawks reading this, congrats, but I hope to see Tom win his 4th. Let’s get to it.
Another 12 game slate today. A little different then most 12 game days with so many early afternoon games. So be sure to get your lineups in early. The big one that everyone will be talking about, of course, is Bulls vs Cavs. They have been hyping it up all weekend here on local radio. Every other commercial is a promo for this game.
It should be a great game for fantasy points too, and I expect high ownership from the big time skill positions for the Bulls and Cavs. The big story line in the “real” NBA is going to be the D. Rose versus Lebron matchup. In the fantasy world I think it’s going to be the health of Kevin Love.
I won’t be using Love even if they say he is going to play. Being someone who has had back spasms, and eventual back surgery, I know it takes more then a day or two of rest to recover. I also know you can literally re-injure it by simply bending over to tie your shoe. True story.
Where it does have relevance for me, is if they rule him out. Then I’d really think hard about playing Tristan Thompson. He just put up 41FDP with Love out in the last game, and could easily get in the 30+ range again. For the sake of this blog, I’m going to assume Love plays, but if I hear that he is out, I may change my lineup. Here is my lineup currently, assuming Love plays…
– At the Point today I’m taking Mo Williams. He let me down on Saturday, but that was on the back end of a back to back playing in Denver. Always hard to do, and something I should have considered when I took him Saturday. Sometimes playing fantasy you forget that these players are real people, and can struggle with altitude and fatigue just like the rest of us. He is playing at home for this one, and though he only had 28FDP versus them the last time they played on the 5th, that was in only 25 minutes of playing time. He is getting just under 40 minutes a game in his last 3.
With Rose, I’m kinda buying in to the whole “Lebron versus Rose” thing that ESPN and TNT will be shoving down our throats. Did anyone watch the Kobe versus Lebron show a few nights ago? I did, and it was awesome. Rose has been playing out his mind lately and there aren’t too many $7,400 players that have potential to drop 50+ FDP, and we know the Cavs don’t exactly play defense.
– Here is my risky play in this lineup. Going with Eric Gordon. I know I know, but hear me out. He has been getting 35 minutes a night, he is a shooter on a team that doesn’t have a lot of shooters, he has scored low to mid 20’s FDP since returning from injury, and they are playing the Knicks. I like him even if Holiday and Davis play. Matter fact, I like him more if Davis plays, he’ll get more open looks. If you think I’m crazy, I left $400 on the table, and you could upgrade Gordon to Korver without having to change a thing.
This also might be a good time to point out that I’m a Pelicans fan….No really, I am. Followed them from Charlotte, and was a fan of the Hornets since they came into the league in 88-89. So take my pick of Gordon how you want.
At the other spot I went with Klay. My friend Brandon, who knows a little more about individual defensive players then I do, pointed out that either Afflalo or Chandler will be on him, and that they are good defenders. It gave me a little pause when selecting him, but ultimately decided on him for one reason. Golden State’s style of offense.
This isn’t your typical isolation, create your own shot offense that 90% of NBA seem to run nowadays. This offense has a lot of motion, back screens, back cuts, etc. Have you ever watched a Warriors game and thought, why is Klay always so open? How could they leave him that open? The answer is all that motion on offense. You turn your head for a second to watch for the cutter, and suddenly Klay is wide open behind you. It’s beautiful to watch. Not to mention Klay has been hot and the game is at Golden State, which for my money has to be the best arena to watch a basketball game on TV. They ohh and ahh at everything going on.
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– I’ll start at SF with Henderson, I feel like the other guy won’t need a lot of explaining and convincing. Looking at Henderson’s last 6 games, he has only one true dud game, and that was at the Spurs. Now for those that just went and checked, I know what your question is “what about the Knicks game”. Hornets were up 40 points at the half in that game, thank you again Brandon for reminding me of that, and he only played 25 minutes. Every time he has hit the 30 minute mark in the month of January, he has scored 30 or more FDP, except the Spurs game.
Now on to Lebron. 45, 52, 52 in his last 3, prime time game vs a worthy opponent, media questioning his desire to win(google Lebron smiling with Kobe during game) and Derrick Rose playing on the other side, all this together has the making of a typical “The Lebron Show” type of game. Worth the price of admission and the cost of ownership.
– At PF I had a hard time deciding between Noel and Monty. Decided on Monty strictly because of his consistency. Mid to high 20’s is what you’re gonna get every night. Noel has higher upside, and potential, with more minutes, but could leave you out to dry with 19FDP like his last outing versus the Pistons. Don’t love Monty, but don’t hate him either. When you spend money on 10k players like Lebron, you’re gonna have these type players in your lineup.
Taj at the other spot is assuming Noah is still out. Whether or not Love plays doesn’t affect my pick here. Cavs lack size and rebounding, even when Love plays. Taj should have a field day on the boards, and he’ll flirt with a double double.
– At center I went Jordan Hill. You could also go with Valaciunas without changing anything else if you prefer. Over his last 9 games Hill has gotten over 30 minutes twice, and scored 35 and 41 FDP respectively. He has been getting more minutes in the last 2 games, missing the 30 minute mark by one minute his last outing, and consequently scored 29FDP, which I’ll still take. If the minutes are there versus the Suns, which there is no reason to assume they won’t be, he puts up a 30+ FDP night again.
As always. Feel free to comment on my picks. Also, please follow my blog by entering your email on the home page and follow me on Twitter @geofflambert77. Good luck!
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