My NBA fantasy team has been struggling in the past 2 weeks.  While they started out first for a long time, injuries and poor performances has forced my team to drop way down to 9^th place in a 14 team league.  My league is a head to head, 9 category league with each team having a roster of 13 players.  The team I currently have (Eric Montrossity) is as follows:

Rajon Rondo, Andre Igoudala, Derrick Rose, Leandro Barbosa, Jared Dudley, Thaddeus Young, Chris Bosh, Andris Biedrins, Roy Hibbert, Kenyon Martin, Andrea Bargnani, Ryan Gomes & Samuel Dalembert

Every week I seem to compete in all categories but 3PTM but with 3 players on the 76ers it seems that if the 76ers play well I win the week, if not then it’s a blowout loss. 

Last week in the NBA was pretty exciting with the return of Nate Robinson and strong back to back performances by Bosh and Bargnani.  Let’s look at the waiver wire for players your team should look to add/drop:

Pickup: Martell Webster (POR), Omri Casspi (SAC)

Webster is hot hot hot right now.  Look at his stats from last week: 20ppg, 7.0rpg, 4assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals and 10 3 pointers made.  Not to mention shooting 53% from the field and just 3 turnovers.  His only knock is his FT% but he doesn’t get to the line enough to make a real difference on your team.  With the plethora of injuries to Portland, he is the go to wingman and even plays a bit at the 4.  Pick him up as he’s only owned in 16% of Yahoo leagues!

 Casspi has been turning heads lately.  The young rookie from Israel has proven his ability to play in the NBA.  Coach Paul Westphal has awared Casspi with starting minutes and he’s responded with 4 twenty point games in a row.  He’s single handedly making Spencer Hawes and Nocioni expendable.   If you need more convincing he’s got SG, SF and PF status and gets more 3 pointers (1.5) than turnovers (1.3) per game.  Definite add!  

Drop: Andres Nocioni (SAC), Tracy McGrady (Formerly Houston)

Nocioni has been a gamble ever since he came into the league.  It’s a love hate when you have him because he gets a little bit of everything but some nights gets a lot of nothing.  He’s been bumped from the starting lineup with the emergence of Cassipi (by the way look to pick him up as well) Nocionis’ minutes are dwindling.  Drop him!

T-Mac was once my favourite player during his Orlando days.  We must move on and as one of the highest paid players in the NBA no team will want to take on his $23 million contract for less than a year.  His only hope is if he’s bought out and a team picks him up for the mid level exception.  It’ll be a miracle if he plays again this season. 

For a team formerly known as the Bullets, Washington should look to move Arenas to being the mascot  if he’s suspended for an extended period of time…

If you have any suggestions, questions or want to talk hoops just comment below.

I’ve been playing Yahoo fantasy hockey for a couple of years  now, (thank you Yahoo for finally keeping live stats free) in a variety of leagues and different formats (points, head to head, keeper).  This year in my NHL league there are 14 teams; Head to Head format with 7 Forwards (2C, 2RW, 2LW, F, 4D, 2BN, 2G) and I currently sit first with a record of 82-33-15.  My team stands as this:

Ryan Kesler, Eric Staal, Alexander Ovechkin, Matt Moulson, Nik Antropov, Brad Boyes, Keith Tkachuk, Tomas Kaberle, Filip Kuba, Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosian, Derek Roy, Martin Erat, Ryan Miller & Tim Thomas

I have however decided to drop Zach Bogosian for another goalie and while that would leave me 3 goalies, in a league that is based purely on offence (PIM included) a D that isn’t scoring or getting in the box is worth nothing.  Whereas if I pick up an extra goalie I can hopefully get an extra win per week which would make up for Tim Thomas and Tuuka Rask splitting games.

Last week, thanks to Ryan Miller collecting a shutout on Sunday, I had a clean sweep with a 10 – 0 victory.  While my opponent had Kovalev, I was still somehow able to manage a victory in goals despite my team’s lack of goal scoring (aside from Ovechkin).

Kovalev, I thought would have finished #1 in Yahoo for week’s end but that award goes to Drew Doughty and his +4 and 5PPP.  And what about the Chicago players, Kane, Toews, Byfuglien, Hossa and Eager all finishing in the top 10 in Yahoo.  What’s more unbelievable is Handzus the revitalized Slovak rounded up the week with 3 goals and 2 assists.  Is he a player I would pick up? No, unless I had a terrible player to drop but I would also keep a real close eye on him through the 2 games LA has this week.

Another player worth taking a look at is Satan himself.  Miroslav Satan that is.

It’s official Miroslav Satan has returned to the NHL, signing with the Boston Bruins.  A previous 40 goal scorer, Satan posseses a killer wrist shot and an intimidating name.  While he is no longer the 30 goal scorer he once was, he will still prove valuable to the Bruins.  With Patrice Beregron out, Satan should be thrown into more minutes and playing with Blake Wheeler will ensure he gets scoring chances.

While Handzus and Satan may provide some temporary scoring boosts here are some other players that can enhance your team in the long run, so if they’re on the waiver wire, pick them up.

Pickup: Jimmy Howard (DET), Danny Briere (PHI)

Howard is officially the #1 in Detroit and anyone goaltending for Detroit has a great chance to get either a high SV% or a win.  Howard is currently owned in 63% of Yahoo Leagues and people are starting to realize his value as his ownership has gone up by over 20% in the past 2 weeks when someone in my league picked him up.

Briere is surprisingly owned in just half of Yahoo! While he’s not the 30 goal scorer that he used to be in Buffalo, he’s got 5 pts in the last 5 games including 19 shots and with Philadelphia starting to win, his +/- is on the rise.

Drop: Mikhail Grabovski (TOR), Patrick O’Sullivan (EDM)

Grabovski is hurt for the next 6 weeks and he is not worth keeping on the IR.  Drop him for someone else.  He’s too streaky and picking anyone on the Leafs besides Kessel is a gamble to get points let a lone +/-.  I call Grabovski the Kamikaze because of the way he flies down the ice until he’s slammed into the boards causing him to make a great pass or a costly turnover.

O’Sullivan got 2 goals last week in a game but he’s more of a liability than an asset.  With a -19 rating and having just 4 goals in the month of December just lose him.  Edmonton has enough trouble scoring and you have a better chance of helping your team by picking up a smaller fish in a bigger pond like Chicago.

Feel free to comment below with any questions or tips you might have in regards to trades, pickups, drops or anything fantasy hockey related.

Welcome back Miro Satan!