Players that piss me off to own

Jones here again, this week I will talk about players that piss you off to own. Good players can be very streaky. To qualify for this list a player must have been a reasonably high draft pick and piss you off while playing healthy. This has nothing to do with being injured, so Bynum, Gordon, Love, and Varejao are out.

Russel Westbrook ADP 5.9 – is he the most physically gifted point guard in the league? Yes. Is he the best point guard in the league? No. Westbrook has always been the target of criticism. He shoots too much, and ya he really does shoot too much. I mean he is averaging nearly half a shot more than the league’s best scorer in Kevin Durant. WHAAAAT!! Half a shot doesn’t seem like much, but KD is shooting 9% better than Westbrook. A guy that gets that many dunks and layups should shoot around 50% but instead shoots around 43%. Not known as a good 3pt shooter but still takes 4 a game. Why I don’t know. So what we end up with are nights when he shoots really really well and knocks down 5 3’s in a game, and then the next when he still thinks he is on fire, shoots like ass, and goes 5-20 from the field. I don’t know how SD keeps his cool, but I guess they did make it to the NBA finals last season. Westbrook needs to sit down and watch videos of Rondo, Steve Nash, and John Stockton. He must learn that good point guards are opportunistic scorers, not volume shooters, score to when the opportunity presents itself to keep the defense honest. He has a much improved mid-range scorer in Ibaka and another knockdown shooter in Kevin Martin to go along with KD. His assists are up nearly 3 a game from last year, but he could average 12 no problem. Imagine that team with Rondo instead of Westbrook? The word unfair comes to my mind.

Demarcus Cousins ADP 19.4 – What is there to say about Demarcus Cousins? He hails from the infamous Calipari one and done system. Calipari recruits players who are so freakishly good in high school that they are treated like royalty wherever they go. They are even so good that they are treated like royalty in college. They are so good that they expect the NBA to be a walk in the park as well. That is where Cousins went wrong.  According to Calipari the NBA stands for No Boys Allowed, but they must allow children because that is what Cousins acts like from time to time. Those actions lead to suspensions, and suspensions lead to pissed off fantasy owners…and coaches.

Josh Smith ADP 8.9 – Josh Smith is a player that I really like because he does literally everything well for your fantasy team, except when it comes to free throw percentage. He even averages .7 3’s per game. What pisses me off is that he is going to take his shots during a game whether he is making them or not. He averages 8.2 rebounds per game which I do like, but they seem to come with 5 rebounds games and 15 rebounding games than with any sort of consistency. Also he seems to have a knack for getting himself suspended from time to time.

Every Kings guard Tyreke Evans ADP 42.1 Marcus Thornton 68.9 Isaiah Thomas 75.1 – These aren’t very high picks, but I still thought this needed to be mentioned. Kings guard minutes have been sporatic at best throughout the year. Much of this has to do with Evans’s injuries off and on this season, and may now finally be getting more consistent with Evans now healthy for the past 3 weeks or so. What pisses me off is how inconsistent the minutes are. Not only do these three guards play, but there is also the fanned favorite Jimmer Fredette whom people will show up just to watch him play 20 minutes for some reason. Aaron Brooks whom was a solid fantasy option a couple years ago until he lost his job to Kyle Lowry after in injury, and then played in China during the lockout and hasn’t really been the same player since.

Serge Ibaka ADP 24.4 – Another OKC player has made the list, but for a different reason. I think everyone will agree that Ibaka is a much improved player from last year. Every statistical category is up from the past year free throw percentage and points especially, but the only category that is down is the only reason that his average draft pick was 24.4. his blocks are down .9 from last year where he was an absolute monster. He could single handedly win you the blocks category in any given week. That was the Ibaka I was hoping to get when I drafted him and that pisses me off.

Goran Dragic ADP 32.8 – We saw what king od player Dragic could be 2 years ago when Nash got hurt in phoenix and he started for a couple weeks and put up excellent numbers. Then we saw it again last year when lowry went down and Dragic was in the top waiver pickup of the year conversation. Dragic started the year on a torrid pace after the first month he was averaging 15.6 pts on 48% shooting. Along with hitting 1.8 3’s at 39%, 6.6 assists, and 1.9 steals.  Since then everything has gone downhill. His 3pt% is in the 20% since and his FT% in the 60’s. I want the Dragic that I drafted whom was capable of leading his team in scoring on any given night as well as deal about 8 dimes a game.

There are the players that piss me off to own. Please feel free to comment and mention the players that piss you off as well.

Top fantasy players not drafted.

Jones here, doing a blog about the top fantasy players that were undrafted by most leagues. There will be 2 selections at each respective position so only 10 players will make the cut. I am in a few leagues and have done my fair share of waiver wire pickups.

In fantasy basketball the most important key to winning is working the waiver wire. It is the best way to turn your poor draft into a solid team. Hard to do because you need to both be swift in acquiring players before your opponent does so but also need to be sure that the player is roster worthy. So without further ado here are the players I have chosen.

PG- Alexy Shved – 1.53’s, 2.6REB, 4.7 AST, .9STL, .9BLK, 10.9 PTS. While his numbers do not jump out at you he has some really good qualities and what I believe is a tremendous upside for the rookie guard from mother Russia. He is a 6’6” guard in a league where the height and speed is growing. This also allows him to play the 3 guard spot on the floor at times which he has done. This versatility leads to more minutes and ultimately to more fantasy production. Also the Timberwolves start 3 players from Russia Andrei Kirilenko, Nikola Pekovic, and Shved. It is up for interpretation if Pekovic is actually an escaped criminal from the planet Krypton, but that is another story. All of these players speak Russian and do so when they communicate on the court giving them a unique advantage because no one else has a clue what they are saying. They question marks surrounding Shved for the remainder of the year are pretty obvious ones with them working Rubio back into the mix and they now have point guards that are all competing for the same minutes, but in my opinion Luke Ridnour will be the odd man out because he is the most average point guard there is in the league and he is the oldest guard on the team. Barea is too much of an offensive spark on the bench, Rubio makes heaven’s chorus sing when he passes the ball and Shved is too versatile.

Jarett Jack – 1 3pt, 3.3REB, 5.3 AST, .8STL, 11.8PTS. Now seeing this someone may ask me “hey what is so special about Jarett Jack,” and my reply would be “nothing”. Then the same person would ask “what is so bad about Jarett Jack,” and my answer would be “nothing.”  He is just a nice all-around player that the warriors put in to keep Curry and Thompson fresh, and does not hurt the warriors while on the floor. We saw last year what Jack can do when given minutes and is actually having a near identical year on a per 36 minute basis. What gets Jack on this list was his sensational month of December where he shot over 50% from the floor and 48% from 3pt land, and has since gone from the equator to visit Santa in the north pole shooting 38% from the field and 10% from 3pt land so far in the month of January. It is hard to gauge Jack’s value going forward because he plays behind one of the best young guards in Stephen Curry and another in Klay Thompson, but if either gets hurt Jack’s value instantly becomes that of a top 40 player. Curry is injury prone I actually had Jack on my team for the first couple weeks of the season because of Curry’s terrible luck with injuries that past couple years, but that proved to be not a wise choice.

SG- JJ Redick – 2.2 3’s, 2.3REB, 4.5AST, 14.6PTS. JJ Redick got into the league by the phrase that there will always be a place in the NBA for someone who can knock down 3’s. That was the old Redick the new Redick is now being called upon to be a real contributor this year. He is averaging career highs in nearly every statistical category due largely to the fact that he is averaging more minutes than ever before in his career.  Even playing point guard earlier in the year when Jameer Nelson was injured and lets face the facts Jameercat has a tendency to get injured; this leads to career highs in assists by 2 per game. Redick is a very solid option at SG because you know what you are going to get, which is 3’s at a solid percentage, he won’t miss a free throw, and will pitch in for assists.

Jordan Crawford – 1.2 3’s, 4 REB, 4.6 AST, 15.6 PTS. Crawford showed us last year what he can be capable of in his first career start when he got a triple double, and so far this year he has one under his belt. He is a very typical shooting guard in that he is going to shoot a lot whether he is making shots or missing shots. Not a particularly good 3 point shooter at 33%, but can knock them down in streaks. It is his ability to contribute in rebounds and assists that gets him on this list. However with all of this said I believe that now with John Wall back Crawford may take a back seat to him and Bradley Beal, and will at the very least split time with him because they are both young talents of the league. While his fantasy arrow does not point up for the time being he is one injury away from being a very viable option in most leagues.

SF- Mette World Peace – 2.1 3’s, 5.7 REB, 1.5 AST, 1.8 STL, .5 BLK, 13.6 PTS There was once a time when Peace was a top fantasy option those days are long gone, also there was a time when he was not even fantasy relevant. What we have now is a solid player who may have finally matured. I thought that last year as well, and then he knocked out James Harden with a vicious elbow. His value has increased for a couple reasons; Steve Nash, and a lack of a bench. With the acquisition of one of the greatest passers in NBA history Peace now gets wide open 3’s averaging a career high 5.9 attempts per game. With the lack of a solid bench leads to him averaging the most minutes in a Laker uniform, and now with Pau Gasol having a concussion has led to him playing the 4 spot for a good portion of the game, and because of that he is averaging the mist rebounds since the 07-08 season when he was with Sacramento; all of that with his ability to contribute in the defensive categories has led to a resurrected former Ron Artest. While the points can be really hit or miss as long as he receives major minutes she should be owned and started in all leagues.

Matt Barnes – 1.4 3’s, 5.2 REB, 1.6 AST, 1 BLK, 1.2 STL, 11 PTS In his 9^th year in the league and being mediocre (from a fantasy point of view) everywhere he has been. He may have finally found a home in with the Clippers. His ability to do a little bit of everything, but hurt you nowhere is his strength.  His production in both the steals and blocks is really rare. There is not a whole lot of upside compared to the current averages so I believe that this is as good as it gets for Barnes. Enjoy it while it lasts.

PF- JJ Hickson – 10.9 REB, .8 BLK, 12 PTS Still a raw talent, but improving every year. After he was traded to Portland from Sacramento last year Hickson has not looked back.  In leagues where double doubles is a category Hickson is an absolute own, and even in standard leagues I believe he should be owned as well. His free throw percentage is something to be desired at 64%, but if you already have Dwight Howard or Blake Griffin you’re not going to win that category anyways so he is a perfect fit. His contribution in the defensive categories could use some work for a guy his size.

Jason Thompson – 7.4 REB, 1 BLK, 11.4PTS Another good young big man. In his 5^th season Thompson has improved his numbers for the 3^rd straight year. He seems to have figured out how to play with Demarcus Cousins. The biggest issue with Thompson and the Kings in general is their tendency to get blown out which leads to real stinkers of games, but when playing over 30 minutes Thompson is a nice option for rebounds and a solid field goal percentage.

C- Nikola Vucevic – 11. REB, 1.6 AST, .7 STL, 1.1BLK, and 11.4 PTS per game. Vucevic started the year really up and down and at the end of November was averaging 8 REB and 9 PTS per game. Then Big Baby got hurt and Vucevic has never looked back. So far in January he is averaging 14 boards and 15 PTS per game. That is Z-bo numbers from a guy who wasn’t even drafted. And is currently 65^th on the player rater in standard leagues and that number is only climbing. He has easily been a top 40 player and a top 10 center that past month. However it is still yet to be determined how he will play with Big Baby when he returns, but I expect Vucevic will still see 30+ minutes

Larry Sanders – 3.3 BLK…because that is the only number that matters. He is the definition of a one category stud. Leading the league in blocks and is doing so at 25 minutes per game. Mostly offensively challenged, but a solid rebounder (not a consistent rebounder). He is the new Iblocka because Ibaka has actually rounded himself into a better all-around fantasy asset. He single handedly can win you the blocks category in any week. I have personally witnessed this from the losing end on more than one occasion.

There is my top players who did not get drafted in this years fantasy draft. Please leave comments and tell me your top players as well.