Man-u Down!
It's a good thing I'm not on your fantasy team. First of all, I'm not even in the NBA, but if I was, I likely would be doubtful for tonight with the flu. Luckily, laying in bed and typing isn't as big a deal to me as getting dressed and going out and playing some full-court hoops in this condition, so the Dose must go on. We still have a ton of updates coming this afternoon (I think), but several questions were answered overnight.
Done-Leavy?
Mike Dunleavy is not expected to play tonight for the Pacers due to lingering soreness in his right knee. This will essentially be his fourth straight miss (he played three minutes in one of them) and is the same knee that caused him to miss 34 games to start the season. If I had to vote right now on whether I was right in suggesting you all avoid Dunleavy this season like the plague, I think I was probably right. Just put him on your bench for now and grab
Jarrett Jack if he's available.
All That Jazz
Carlos Boozer will not play tonight, but
Andrei Kirilenko still thinks he will despite having ankle surgery three weeks ago. I am betting he doesn't play tonight and still think he's iffy for the whole week. But AK-47 says he feels good enough to play and I guess it's now in the hands of the trainers and Jerry Sloan. Hopefully we have one final update before game time. As for Boozer, I don't expect to see him this week, so just keep him benched for now.
The Man-U Sold the World
Manu Ginobili will miss at least one game with a sore right ankle as he stayed behind in San Antonio to have tests run on his bad ankle. He could rejoin the team later in the week if tests reveal no significant damage, and the good news is that this is not the same ankle he had surgery on in the offseason. It sounds like you should plan on getting him benched for now, though.
Catapult
Gerald Wallace and
Raja Bell are expected back for the Bobcats tonight, which is bad news for
D.J. Augustin and
Vladimir Radmanovic. I still think DJA and Vlad-Rad are worth owning, and maybe starting with four games, but they looked a lot better when Bell and Wallace were out. Both Augustin and Vlad-Rad will come off the bench.
Go West Young Man
Delonte West is expected to return from his broken wrist at some point this week, but I would bench him for now.
Dice Behind Your Shades
Antonio McDyess is expected to start over
Amir Johnson the rest of the way at power forward for the Pistons. I was kind of high on Dice before this news and grabbed him wherever I could for now. Some steals and blocks would be nice, but he should be a double-double machine going forward.
The Wanderer
My buddy
Tracy McGrady is now "walkin' the earth'" in search of a doctor who will disagree with every other doctor he's seen thus far (including Dr. James Andrews – who is kind of like the Darth Vader of NBA doctors) and tell the Rockets that T-Mac needs to be shut down for the rest of the season in order to get right. I don't know how this is going to end, but McGrady has basically ruined his NBA future with the way he's gone about things this year. Dr. Andrews has to be ticked off – I mean, no one, and I mean no one – ever questions what this guy says. Rick Adelman is at his wits end, the Rockets' training staff has been thrown under the bus by T-Mac enough to last a life time, T-Mac's teammates don't really seem to care whether he's there or not and he's just come off as a whiny brat this season. I'm guessing he's really hurt, but so are a lot of other guys who have handled things much differently than T-Mac has. He may play again this season, but then again, he may not. And at this point, I don't really care either way.
Feet Don't Fail Me Now
Supposedly
Chris Kaman is ready to get back into action this week and the Clips want to get 25 games out of him. I have no idea why, but that's what they want. If
Marcus Camby goes down, I could see Kaman getting some solid run and producing. But as long as Camby and
Zach Randolph are healthy, I can't imagine Kaman racking up huge numbers. And in case you forgot, the last time we really saw him play was alongside Dirk in Beijing for Germany, when he was
terrible.
Rudie Can't Fail
Rudy Gay is expected to return tonight for the Grizzlies from a hip injury, but he's still making me a little nervous. I'm probably going to start him, but I don't feel fantastic about it. Maybe it's the NyQuil talking.
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If Only You Knew the Power of the Dark Side…
Vader says that to Luke just after chopping off his hand I think, and Ridnour is somehow ready to return from a broken right thumb already. He's two weeks ahead of schedule and while I don't think he's a must-add at this point, I dropped J.J. Barea and picked Ridnour up in every league I could. I suggest you do the same. And that scream you just heard was the
Ramon Sessions owners collectively yelling "Nooooooooooo!!!"
Cut Here
Al Jefferson will have knee surgery Wednesday and won't play again this season. Meanwhile,
Craig Smith is due back tonight from broken ribs and could be a very solid fantasy play the rest of the way. If you have someone you're not going to play who is using up a roster spot, cut him for Smith.
Snapdraft - With a 10-game slate in the NBA it's probably a perfect time to give
Snapdraft a try. Just click on the link to check it out.
Yi-Ha!
It sounds like
Yi Jianlian is set on returning this week but you can expect plenty of rust from him. He wants to play against Yao tonight, but I would leave Yi benched for this week if you can. The broken finger was on his shooting hand and he could be rusty for a week or so. Is
Vince Carter going to be traded? I have no idea, but I'm starting him with hopes of getting three games out of him this week if I own him.
Hornets! Hornets!
Tyson Chandler's left ankle
still isn't going to allow him to play tonight, meaning he'll miss his 13th straight game with the injury. I wouldn't be surprised if he sits all week, or comes back and aggravates it, but that's just a guess.
I Am Superman
Nate Robinson is an interesting play this week, but given the fact he should be all jacked up after the big weekend and that
Chris Duhon's ankle is not right should work in his favor. Duhon's MRI didn't reveal anything to be too concerned about, but he may still be a little gimpy this week. I think both players are worth starting.
I Can't Drive 35
[URL="http://fantasyfootball.usatoday.com/content/playerpages/player_main.asp?sport=NBA&id=1551"]Jason Richardson[/URL] was clocked doing a ridiculous 90 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone on Sunday night. While that's pretty extreme, the fact his kid was unrestrained in the back seat is just ridiculous. I mean, I've done my share of speeding and have hit some high speeds in my day, but this story is just not right. In any case, he'll sit out tonight's game after the Suns suspended him, and now has to worry about the league coming down on him after his court case. At least he wasn't drinking.
Is
Amare Stoudemire going to be traded now? I don't know, but we'll know by Thursday at 3 p.m., right? Sounds like they may just keep him now that
Terry Porter has been axed, but my question is why didn't
Steve Kerr just nip this in the bud a month or two ago and chop Porter when it was clear his players all wanted to hurt him?
Steve Nash should be back in action for the Suns and they are planning on running at full speed ahead. Nash owners should prepare to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Chips Ahoy!
Greg Oden's agent,
Mike Conley Sr., says the chip in Oden's knee isn't a serious injury, but also said that he'll be "game-to-game" for now. Oden says he would have played in the rookie challenge if it was a real game, but you're going to have to roll the dice on your own and decide if you're going to play Oden this week. I no longer own him anywhere, so don't have to deal with it.
Matrix and Bosh
Shawn Marion should be good to go tomorrow night against the Cavaliers, but
Chris Bosh's knee is still a bit iffy. If Bosh misses that game, Marion could have a big line and big week for the Raptors. It doesn't sound like we'll have any more information out of Raptor-land until later tonight, but my thoughts as of now are to play Marion and hope to get more info on Bosh tonight. He doesn't like playing without practicing when returning from injury, so if he can't practice today, chances are he won't go tomorrow.
Flip Your Wig
Flip Murray is out for tonight for personal reasons, although he probably shouldn't have been in your lineup anyway unless you're in a crazy-deep league. But this does mean that Mo Evans could have a big week off the Hawks bench if Flip is going to miss time.
And speaking of crazy-deep leagues, Matt Stroup and I are matched up for a H2H playoff showdown in 30-deep this week. Yes, the first round of those playoffs are here already and it is a shame that the two Rotoworld NBA guys have to go head to head so early. Here are the matchups, and I will tell you that Stroup is a heavy favorite with a three-games played advantage.
Me –
Mike Bibby,
Eric Gordon,
Shawn Marion,
Tyrus Thomas,
Al Horford and
Samuel Dalembert
Stroup-
Randy Foye,
Kevin Martin,
Gerald Wallace,
Kenyon Martin, Nene and
Leandro Barbosa
It's tough just to get into the playoffs in that league and this should be a pretty good showdown. I just wish I had one or two guys who played four games this week. Oh well.
C's Trade Sam Cassell
The Celtics traded
Sam Cassell to the Kings in order to clear a roster spot and it may be so that they can sign
Stephon Marbury. Feel free to run out and grab Marbury again for the 12th time this season, but I have no interest.
Enjoy tonight's 10-game schedule!
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=subHead vAlign=top colSpan=3>Bynum's trainer stands by 8-12 week estimate </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=vaLabel colSpan=3>Andrew Bynum - C - LAK - Feb. 16 
