Sits and Starts
Point Guard
Sit Mo Williams: He is battling a thumb injury and though unlikely may a miss a game or two. Regardless, thumb injuries frequently affect ball handling and he goes up against a pair of very opportunistic defenders in Stephen Curry and Chris Paul in Utah’s 3 games.
Start Andre Miller: Denver’s starter, Ty Lawson, is battling an achilles injury and may be limited next week. Miller already plays 25 min a night and is averaging 5.4 ast with excellent percentages but should see a big boost if Lawson misses time. In addition, he gets some smaller point guards in Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Darren Collison and Mike Conley for plenty of post-up and loop pass opporunities.
Shooting Guard
Sit Wesley Matthews: Despite his willingness to play, his sore hip is clearly bothering him. In 2 out of his past 3 games he has failed to eclipse 10 minutes, which is awful in fantasy because it also costs you the GP. The one game he did play he stuggled with his shot (7 for 19). Three games in four nights won’t help especially when one of those includes a match-up against Kobe Bryant.
Start Jodie Meeks: the one big beneficiary of the Mike D’Antoni Showtime era so far. D’Antoni’s system needs players to stretch the floor for his point guard/big man pick and roll game to work and Meeks has emerged as the team’s go to 3P shooter. In addition to taking an average of 8.5 3pA over his last five games, he is also chipping in with rebounds and steals. While he doesn’t get to the line often, 26 for 27 can help anyone’s FT%.
Small Forward
Sit Michael Beasley: His ownership percentage has remained high despite the utter collapse in his game. He hasn’t played more than 20 minutes in 6 straight games and is an awful 12 for 39 in that stretch. His rebounding has all but disappeared as well. Considering that he wasn’t very good when he got minutes, you shouldn’t be holding on for any more. Paul George and Andrei Kirilenko will eat him for lunch at their homes this week.
Start Matt Barnes: The Clippers have a nice schedule for fantasy with 4 games including 3 at home and a bunch of close match-ups that will keep players like Barnes on the floor. He has become an integral part of his team’s success and is a rare 9 category fantasy contributor.
Power Forward
Sit Kris Humphries: Like Beasley, he has seen his playing time disappear. The return of Brook Lopez coupled with the great play of Andray Blatche has made Humphries very replaceable. The Nets also have Reggie Evans, who does the one thing Humphries is asked to do, rebound, better than Hump. The fact that he is not scoring at all doesn’t help either.
Start Marcus Morris: With Patrick Patterson not expected to play this week, Marcus Morris gets to keep starting. In four games since Patterson went down, Morris is averaging 32 min, 16 points on 62% shooting including 2.25 3PM a contest. With plenty of weapons in Houston and four games this week Morris should provide some excellent short term value.
Center
Sit DeMarcus Cousins: Suspended indefinitely for arguing with the coach and refusing to come out of the locker room after halftime, Cousins’ welcome in Sacramento is wearing thin. I don’t expect him to miss too many games, most likely only one, but the writing is on the wall that the team may be better off without him. As a result, he may see a general decline in minutes as they shop for a new home for him. Oh and his awful shooting numbers are killing many fantasy teams right now.
Start Robin Lopez: I am amazed that his ownership is so low in fantasy. He does all the traditional Center-things like have a high FG%, rebound and block shots but he also does it with an above average FT% too. His team’s poor play has not affected his numbers in the least and he has a very easy 3 game schedule this week.
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