Injuries and illnesses are a fact of life in pro sports. In deep traditional fantasy leagues, if you drafted Emmanuel Mudiay (ankle) you play a man short until he returns. In DFS, his temporary replacement Jameer Nelson $4200 could pay off handsomely. [Read more…]
Spanning the entire 12-game Friday slate, the richest NBA tournaments at DraftKings close at 7:00 Eastern. If (like me) you enjoy smaller player pools, there’s also Turbo (8:00; 3 games), Late (9:00; 2 games) and Later (10:00; 2 games) contests. [Read more…]
This may become one of the most entertaining seasons in Utah Jazz history. The prospect of Quin Snyder coaching a talented young core led by growing stars Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert has elicited quiet whispers about making the playoffs. Will the Jazz’s supporting cast lift them up or let them down? What is GM Dennis Lindsey doing, and will his risks pay off in the long term? Basketball enthusiasts should watch the Jazz this season just to see how
Perhaps no team in the NBA has moved on from its past and looked toward its future more than the Utah Jazz. Virtually all of the ties to the great Jazz teams of the 1990s are gone. In their place are a rookie coach and a starting lineup that figures to have no one older than 24. The Jazz won’t be much better than last season, when they lost 57 games, their most since arriving in Salt Lake City from New Orleans
As the Dallas Mavericks compete for one of the most competitive No. 8 seeds in NBA history, they’ve relied heavily on Vince Carter to provide veteran leadership and production to the team’s second lineup. While he is the team’s sixth man by assignment, coach Rick Carlisle still considers him one of Dallas’ most important players. This is evident by Carter’s defined role in the final minutes of close games. Carter is averaging nearly seven fourth-quarter minutes per game in 2013-2014, nearly two
Let’s play a quick game of “Name That Big Man”: Since the All Star Break (nine games), Player A, an All-Star, has averaged 19.0 points on 51.6% shooting in 33 minutes per game. Since the All Star Break (nine games), Player B, not an All-Star, has averaged 16.3 points on 51.3% shooting in 27 minutes per game. [Read more…]
When forward Mike Scott came to Atlanta Hawks training camp in 2012, he was labeled by then-coach Larry Drew as “a solid pick-and-roll option.” In other words, although Scott proved himself to be a legitimate offensive weapon in his five years at Virginia (medical redshirt in 2010), no one really expected him to develop into more than a decent midrange shooter at the next level. [Read more…]
I spoke with James Johnson at Atlanta Hawks media day back in October when he was just another former first-round pick trying to convince another team – his fourth, to be exact – that he was good enough for another shot. [Read more…]