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Tough Juice?
I think it's officially time to welcome everyone to "shutdown season." This is the time of year the 'surprise DNP's' are going to come on a nightly basis, so even those of us in daily transaction leagues are going to have some issues from now until April 15. We came out of Monday night fairly unscathed, although Jermaine O'Neal was a late scratch and there is news of
Caron Butler missing yet another week of action.
Tough Juice Spill On Aisle 4
Caron Butler has now missed six straight and nine of his last 13 games with a hamstring injury, and there is new word out of Washington that he could miss another full week. Here's what I don't understand. The Rotoworld staff, as well as most other folks who know anything about basketball, have been writing for a month that Butler was one of the top shut-down candidates in the league. Butler knew it, Ed Tapscott knew it and Wizards fans knew this was probably coming. What I don't get is why the team keeps pretending like he's going to come back to play for a squad that has lost five straight games, won just 16 on the year, and is only one game in front of the Kings in the race for the league's worst record. Why not just come out and say "Juice's hamstring is in pretty bad shape and we're just going to throw him on the shelf and bring him back healthy next season, along with
Gilbert Arenas." If they're worried about fans not showing up, I would think a better marketing ploy would be to advertise the "Spring of Youth," promising to give fans a look at the future with
Andray Blatche,
JaVale McGee,
Nick Young,
Javaris Crittenton, etc. as opposed to running
Mike James out there every night, and pretending that Butler might play from night to night.
And I really wonder how all of this sits with Butler. His nickname is "Tough Juice" and he was long thought of as one of the warriors in the league. But I think that tune changed after the 2006-07 season. He played just 63 games that year and just three of the team's final 19. He then missed a huge chunk of time in February and March of last year before taking the final three games of the season for a 58-game total. Coincidentally, he has played in just 58 games again this season, missing a huge chunk of time in March, and probably all of April. I can't imagine he enjoys being at the top of "shut it down early" lists, but then again, he hasn't really done anything to change that reputation in the last three years. I think the wrong Wizard may have gotten the "TJ" nickname, as
Antawn Jamison is still out there getting it done, and usually is at this time of year. I'm not actually suggesting that Butler's not really hurt, but it would be interesting to see if he would have missed as many games if the Wizards didn't stink. In any case, make a mental note to yourself that if you draft Butler in the future, it might be a good idea to trade him while you're celebrating New Year's Eve.
Hip To Be Square
Jermaine O'Neal was a late scratch last night with a hip injury, which has bothered him for a week. He says he'll definitely be back Wednesday at Indy to face his former team, but my guess this is not the last game he will miss this season. Luckily he's no longer playing for the Raptors or he would be the No. 1 remaining candidate to be shelved. Instead, that honor goes to his former teammate,
Chris Bosh. The general "wear and tear on his knees" and the Raptors 25-45 record makes Bosh very sketchy the rest of the way. He hasn't played more than 70 games in any of the last three seasons (67, 69, 70) and currently sits at 65 games played. Can't you just feel it coming?
Duncan Hurting
Tim Duncan's knees are really hurting, but I suspect he'll play through it for the most part. Owners should fully expect him to sit Wednesday @ Atlanta and again in April on the second night of a back-to-back against the Heat, but outside of those two games, he's going to try to gut it out. However, if Gregg Popovich gets the slightest inkling that playing now could negatively impact Duncan in the playoffs, he won't hesitate to hold him out.
Iverson Speaks
Allen Iverson finally granted an
interview yesterday to A. Sherrod Blakely and said he was amused that people thought he was faking his back injury to avoid coming off the bench. It sounds like he was experiencing serious leg problems stemming from the injury and he thought his career might be over. He also hinted that he would play again in the regular season and that he owed it to the game and everyone he knows to continue to compete regardless of his role with the Pistons. All this is great news if you're still hanging on, but the bad news is he is still not ready to play, simply saying that "If I can feel good enough to go, then I going to go." I would not have held him for the last month, but it may make some sense to grab him if you're looking for a late-season addition to your team.
Speaking of the Pistons, it now sounds like
Richard Hamilton is out tonight with his groin injury, while Iverson and
Rasheed Wallace have also been ruled out. Wallace could return from his calf injury on Thursday and I guess it's possible all three players could go in that game, but it's a long shot at this point. Hamilton has the best chance of going in that one, followed by Sheed and then AI.
Deng Dong
Luol Deng would like to come back from his stress fracture, but it sounds like the Bulls are prepared to be without him for the rest of the season. "We don't want him to come back and really seriously injure himself," coach
Vinny Del Negro said. I see no reason to hang onto Deng at this point.
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Cram Sessions
Scott Skiles is toying with the idea of starting
Luke Ridnour over
Ramon Sessions in an effort to make a playoff push in Milwaukee. Sessions has been quiet lately and may have hit some sort of wall, so keep your eye on that position battle going forward.
Ford Tough
It sounds like
T.J. Ford will continue to come off the bench for the Pacers going forward. If you own
Jarrett Jack, go ahead and give yourself a fist bump at your desk.
Iffy Andrea
Andrea Bargnani has not been ruled out for Wednesday's game after sitting Sunday with an Achilles' injury. And that's all I know.
Funky Town
Ryan Gomes continued to struggle last night in a blowout loss to the Hawks, finishing with just six points and not posting a single rebound, assist or block. He's been playing less than 27 minutes and hasn't scored more than eight points in his last three games, and scored just six points in 34 minutes against the Spurs last week. I am guessing he breaks out of the funk eventually, but he's crushing owners right now. The Wolves were trounced by the Hawks last night, who have now won eight of their last nine games.
Flip Murray scored a season-high 30 points, while
Joe Johnson and
Mike Bibby each scored 20. Murray hurt his back during the game, but will hopefully be able to play on Wednesday.
Josh Smith was quietly awful for the second straight game, but a stingy Cavs' defense and a first-half blowout over the Wolves are likely to blame. As far as we know, he and Mike Woodson are still speaking this morning.
Fort A'Blatche
Andray Blatche started for injured
Darius Songaila (neck) last night and had 15 points, 13 boards and a block. If you threw him in your lineup for four games this week (and you should have), last night's quick start to the week had to feel pretty good.
Nick Young had just 10 points despite being in the starting lineup last night, while
Javaris Crittenton stepped up with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
JaVale McGee was a complete bust last night, but might bounce back later in the week. More minutes, please!
The Bulls easily handled the Wiz last night, getting a double-double from
Brad Miller, near double-doubles from
Joakim Noah and
Derrick Rose, and solid performances from
John Salmons and
Ben Gordon.
Tyrus Thomas was quiet, but did have six boards and a couple blocks, while
Kirk Hinrich scored most of his 10 points early in the night. But that's the nice thing about five-game weeks – Those who struggled still have plenty of time to make up for an off night.
Clipped
Al Thornton came off the bench last night due to a shoulder injury and finished with 11 points and a block. At least he played, but he was not a great starting option this week due to the injury.
Marcus Camby had six blocks last night, which is probably the reason you had him in your lineup. Oh, you wanted rebounds too? He had five of those and just four points, but at this point, the fact he's playing is about all we can ask for. The Clippers actually battled the Celtics (who held
Eric Gordon to eight points), but Boston won in the end.
Kevin Garnett had 12 points in 18 minutes, but hit all of his shots. Doc Rivers is as cautious as anyone when it comes to bringing back injured stars, but Garnett should slowly get better each night. The fact he had just two boards and two assists is pretty disappointing though. If owners wanted 12 points and two boards, they would have picked up
Mike James for the week.
Glen Davis hit just 1-of-11 shots on the night for eight points after scoring 24 in his previous game.
Mag-Glorious
Jamaal Magloire got a rare start in O'Neal's absence and posted 10 points and 12 boards in the Heat's win over the Grizzlies. Since O'Neal swears he won't miss time with his injury, Magloire is only worth a look in very deep leagues.
Jamario Moon was an interesting pick up this week after his big line on Sunday, and he quietly had two 3-pointers, four steals, a block, nine points and five boards.
Rudy Gay and the rest of his Memphis teammates were pretty bad, as he hit just 2-of-9 shots for eight points in a game the Heat controlled from the outset.
Return of General Lee
David Lee returned to action on Monday and had 14 points and 13 boards in a tough loss to the Magic.
Quentin Richardson, another interesting waiver pick up after scoring 33 points in his last game, got hot late to finish with 17 points and three 3-pointers, as
Larry Hughes missed another game with a toe injury. The Magic, as usual, were led by
Dwight Howard's 29 points, 14 boards and four blocks, but got just 10 points from
Rashard Lewis. His knees are bothering him and I think it may be time for owners to get a little concerned. He's struggling with his shot and has scored 13 or less in five of his last seven games.
K-Mart Is Open, Nene Closing?
Just when it looked like
Kenyon Martin's season was going to end he blew up for 18 points, nine boards, four steals and two blocks in last night's loss to the Suns. This was a great game that went down to the wire, but before I get too excited about K-Mart, I need to know how his back feels this morning after playing 35 minutes. He hadn't played more than 25 minutes in his previous four games and hadn't played 35 minutes since Feb. 25. Nene was ejected from this one for scuffling with (and previously head-butting)
Louis Amundson, but also appeared to bump into an official as he was leaving. That could mean a one-game suspension, which is painful stuff in the middle of the fantasy playoffs.
The Suns were led by
Grant Hill's 23 points and 10 boards, and congratulations are in order if you grabbed for five games this week. He also hit the game-winning shot and has played in all of the Suns…Nevermind.
Matt Barnes, on the other hand, was awful and finished with just three points on 1-of-8 shooting. He's in a funk right now, but still has time to get right by the end of the week.
Leandro Barbosa (leg) now sounds like he will miss the whole week, but has still not been ruled out for a specific period of time.
Young Guns
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 24 points and 12 boards last night, but the Sixers beat Portland behind 27 points (and just three assists) from
Andre Miller and
Thaddeus Young's 25 points.
Greg Oden might have been the story from this one though, as he finished with 13 points, eight boards and a couple blocks. The kid is desperate to prove that he's not a bust and could finish up strong for the Blazers.
Travis Outlaw was injured in this one, spraining his right pinkie finger in the fourth quarter. He's day-to-day, but could play Thursday against the Suns.
Brandon Roy also suffered a mild ankle sprain during the game, but played through it.
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=subHead vAlign=top colSpan=3>Wizards' Caron Butler may miss another week </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=vaLabel colSpan=3>Caron Butler - G/F - WAS - Mar. 24 </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=3>Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said on Monday that Caron Butler (sore left hamstring) could be out up to another week.
