Posts tagged JohnSalmons at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

We showed you J.R. Smith's unfortunate bonked windmill earlier and mentioned it loomed large in Denver's eventual 3-point loss to the Kings. There were, of course, other causes -- turnovers galore, a bad night for Allen Iverson, huge scoring nights for Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia and Mikki Moore.

Whatever the impetus, the result has caused a ton of trepidation in Mile High City. From the Denver Post's game story, by Benjamin Hochman.

You have to be kidding. ... Saturday's loss was inexplicable and inexcusable. ... What an embarrassment.

That was the game story! Columnist Woody Paige, who is possibly the worst living American wordsmith, reacted to the loss by calling for just about everybody's head. (Seriously, unless he wrote that entire "column" on a BlackBerry while strung from his toes upside-down over a pool filled with barbed wire and salt, the Post has no excuse to employ that guy. Awful.)

All the stories from Denver focus on the fact the Kings were without Ron Artest and Brad Miller, two VIPs for the Kings. Of course, they neglect to realize Martin is probably the Kings' best player, and those fellows John Salmons and Garcia are pretty good too. To Hochman and Paige, this was a total shock. Pickaxe and Roll, a Nuggs blog, noted before the game it wasn't a gimme. Maybe the combination of this Kings win -- along with one last week over the Rockets -- will make media folks in future opponent cities prepare for possible defeat.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
If you don't get the Bad Boys reference, I'm sorry. It appears my time has passed me by. Anywho, Kyle Lowry got the most run of the trio of young Memphis point guards last night, seeing 32 minutes and scoring 24 points with four assists and two steals. Javaris Crittenton had 30 minutes and scored 17 points with four assists and a steal, while Mike Conley, Jr., scored zero points (0 for six shooting) with one assist and a steal in 16 minutes. All of this is important, because for the rest of the season, the Grizzlies are essentially having a tryout for point guard. Whoever is playing well will keep getting the run. I love Conley, and he's legit, but I think people undervalue Lowry. Since it appears he's not going to have a tremendous leash, well, adjust accordingly.

Hot Cakes
Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes are both starters now (do these guys have dirt on a slew of NBA coaches?). Hughes put up eight points with five assists and two steals in 25 minutes while Gooden went nuts, albeit against Memphis, for 21 points and 14 rebounds. It's classic sell high on either guy, although they're certainly doing their best to spite LeBron James at this point.

Mike Miller has been out almost the equivalent of a week in NBA games for the Grizzlies, but is expected to return tonight. Consider holding him out one more game because back injuries = bad field goal percentage.

The disconnect between the Warriors front office and French swingman Mickael Pietrus has been evident since the summer, when a lack of movement around the league forced Pietrus into a one-year deal to stay in Oakland. By December, Mickael had started requesting trades. As the deadline approaches, Pietrus and his agent... they're getting worried, and thus louder.

"We thought he was traded last week, but the trade was nixed at the 11th hour. Three days ago, Mike met with Chris [Mullin], and two days ago, Mike met with coach [Don] Nelson, both times repeating the trade request."

"Mike has been asked to play out of position for all of this season. He does not want to play the 4 and the 5. Mike doesn't want to be a corner spot-up shooter for whom no offensive plays are run. He simply feels he can contribute much more on both ends of the floor for another team. He truly hopes to be traded tomorrow."

Nellieball's definition is: "play out of position." Obviously, Pietrus' camp is worried he'll finish the season as an unfit spot player with Golden State, which will ruin his first unrestricted free agency this summer. On the flip, getting onto a team which will play him big minutes in a role more suited to his style could lead to a 3- or 4-year deal for decent cash this summer.

Pietrus is a legit NBA player -- a bigger John Salmons with less ball-handling and more physicality. Like Salmons, he's a guy at his best with the ball in his hands. Golden State has too many weapons to let Mickael get loose, but he'd thrive in a few cities. Luckily, scouts see talent and he should get a decent deal this summer regardless. Patience, man. Patience.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
Consider yourselves lucky that you're getting this post today. I have made no secret of my mancrush, so my first inclination when I heard that Andrew Bynum would be out for eight freaking weeks was to end up hanging from the nearest ceiling fan by a guitar string. Then I realized the closest thing I own to said string is a fake plastic Gibson with five colored buttons. So I'm here. And Bynum is not. You can't drop him and keeper league teams out of contention should actually trade for him. He will miss eight weeks and in his fantasy stead will be erstwhile "phenom" Kwame Brown (seen here getting half-postered by the quite miniscule Earl Watson.)

Hot Cakes
Kwame posted 10 and 10 last night but it was in 38 minutes against the Sonics and everyone rebounds against them, so that's a misleading false sliver of hope. If he keeps up the decent play, I say sell, since he will not be scoring and Chris Mihm will probably reappear in three weeks for about a week or two (before getting hurt again) to steal playing time. Even if he doesn't, Chris Webber looms as a triangle offense passing presence/center option on the cheap for the Lakers who would be available in just around a fortnight. (Yeah, I rolled with fortnight and yeah, snatch him up if you need dimes and minimal boards.)

In that same game, Nick Collison registered a monsterous 24 points and 18 boards. Besides telling us that Collison is starting to heat up (add him if you can) while averaging over a dub-dub in January, this also tells us that Kwame cannot play defense. Suddenly, you want to start your centers against the Lakers in daily leagues. Did not want to do that when Bynum was in there. So there's that. Hurray tiny silver linings! Sigh.

B-ball, B-Fast is a week-daily look at what happened last night from in the NBA from a fantasy basketball perspective. Come early (9:00 a.m.) and often, or just bookmark it and save yourself the hassle.

Cup of Coffee
Hedo Turkoglu is averaging over 18 points, six boards and four dimes per game this season. That's fairly absurd given where he was drafted in fantasy leagues. It's surprising when his previous his previous career high line reads: 14.9/4.5/3.2. It's even more surprising when you consider that Rashard Lewis just signed. Turns out, instead of Lewis ganking Hedo's time (surely they would start Lewis at the three over Hedo, no offense, right?), well, they're both getting plenty of run, alternating at the three and four. The awkward thing? Hedo's stats (18/6/4) are better than Lewis' (19/5/2.6). Hedo's certainly a sell high -- his value is maxed even if his performance isn't going to drop -- but Dwight Howard's inside presence, and the ability of Lewis, Keith Bogans(if only temporarily) and Jameer Nelson to stretch the floor have made him a legitimate fantasy star.

Hot Cakes
Willie Green was Philly's leading scorer last night (again). He tossed up a twamp spot to go with six rebounds and four assists on 50 plus percent shooting. Consider those last few things to be huge bonuses. He's now averaging 15.5 points per game in December, and shooting at a 58 percent clip. You want to sell high if you can.

Dorell Wright is a freaking tease. One night he's going for 19 points and 17 boards; the next it's all four points and one rebound; then he follows that up with 16/12/4/1/2. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the big games were against the Warriors and Suns, respectively. Wright looks like he's going to keep starting at the three for Miami, so you want to own him, but until he starts developing some consistency, it might be better to use him for daily purposes.

John Salmons continues to start (37 minutes) in the place of Kevin Martin and is the best fantasy replacement for K-Mart over the next month and a half. But Francisco Garcia has seen 30 plus minutes over the last three games - with his instant offense/high octane scoring ability, he's worth using in all leagues with that much court time.

Broken Eggs
Tracy McGrady left Monday's game against Philly with an ankle injury. He was questionable for Tuesday as of this morning, but shallow daily leagues want to grab Bonzi Wells. He's a nice add in any size league though, because he'll be going off anytime T-Mac goes down.

It's bad that the Kings' rising star Kevin Martin is down for a while with injury. The team's two best young players--you know, the people you develop when you can't win--play the same position. That would be John Salmons and Francisco Garcia, and we saw this before when Ron Artest missed some time.

From The Sacramento Bee:

García's long-range shooting ability brings a benefit, Theus said, as it would open the floor more offensively and maintain spacing that allows Artest to operate in the post and possibly avoid being double-teamed so often ... Salmons, who averaged 20.7 points and led the team in assists (4.0 per game) while starting for Artest in the first seven games, is effective in isolation play and known as a strong defender.

Both have some point guard skills, but aren't cut out for that position. Which is a shame, since the Kings could still use some help there. The bottom line, though, is that these two swingmen could probably play well together, and could turn into very good players. But unless Artest moved over to power foward, the team went small, and the known world ended, the two are going to get in each other's way.

Or they could follow Kelly Dwyer's advice and start trading everyone. Scorch the earth, and let Martin, Garcia, and Salmons scamper around with impunity.

B-Ball,B-Fast is a daily (9:00 a.m.) look at what happened the night before in the NBA from a fantasy basketball perspective. Check back early and often, or just save yourself the trouble and bookmark it.

Cup of Coffee
Richard Jefferson wasn't a popular guy in fantasy drafts this year. Owners drafted him somewhere between the 60-75 range, depending on the size and parameters of the league, based primarily on injury and a decline in production over the past three years. Those who took the gamble are getting paid handsomely, as Jefferson is averaging a career high 25 plus points per game after pouring in 36 against the Cavs last night. The assist and rebound numbers are down a bit, but he's efficient as ever from the floor and his range has improved (on pace for a career high in three's at a career high percentage); there's no reason to think, barring injury, that he doesn't finish what he started in 2004.

Hot Cakes
Jefferson wasn't the top scorer last night though, as Amare Stoudemire went off against the Pacers for 42/14/4. There were talks before the season started that he was ready to take his game to an even higher level than we'd seen before; he's "only" averaging 19.3 and 8.6 boards per game this year, both below his career numbers. But he's doing it in 28.6 minutes, which is nuts, really. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but if you can weasel your way into getting him, now would be a good time, before the Suns start really ratcheting up his minutes.

All Brevin Knight does is pass and steal - 9/1/8/2 last night - which as a fourth guard in fantasy, is flat out superb. There's a chance he's available in some leagues and Sam Cassell is still dealing with injury. Sam-I-Am is like 89 in alien years, so this probably won't be a one time thing.

Daily leagues should note that Chris Mihm is your starting center in Los Angeles with Andrew Bynum sick right now; he scored 11 points with seven boards and two dimes in 32 minutes last night. With two games against Golden State on the horizon (12/09 and 12/14) he could make a very nice streaming option.

Someone that could be more than a streamer, depending how his situation shakes out, is Anderson Varejao. He signed yesterday with the Bobcats, leaving the Cavs seven days to match the Bobcats offer. Varejao's made it known he doesn't care to play for the LeBrons and there are salary cap issues involved, so they may let him walk. If he ends up in Charlotte, he's a very nice add as a fourth forward or second center; Jared Dudley's value would take a hit though.

Broken Eggs
Kevin Martin left the Kings game against Utah last night with some sort of strained groin. Besides the obvious "Ouch" joke, it's worth noting that John Salmons ended up with 21 points, six boards and two dimes in 27 minutes. Either he or Francisco Garcia will start at the two with Martin hurt, but expect it to be Salmons who sees the biggest temporary boost in value.

It's always great when the world steps up and makes you right. Back in December, I posted about Sacto's John Salmons going at his old mate AI. Unfortunately, it seems like I interpreted the quotes wrong, and the whole thing probably shouldn't have happened.

Until today when, The Philadelphia Inquirer caught these Salmons quotes:

Like many, Salmons knew it time for the Sixers to change.

"They weren't winning, ticket sales weren't great, and that's the business," he said. "From that aspect, I guess you have to say yes. You have to be a unique player to be able to play with A.I.; I think he'll tell you that himself. When they were winning and things were going well, they had those unique players like E. Snow [Eric Snow], Aaron McKie, George Lynch. They were unique to the way A.I. played; they all made it work. Once those players left, they tried to rebuild in the same mode, but I think the personalities weren't right."

Wow, this is right up there with Shaq's "NOLA ain't ready" line. What exactly is a "unique player" here? Those are some of the most ordinary, even sub-ordinary, guys you can think of. I guess Salmons is acknowledging that Iverson is special, but it's not clear this is a compliment.

Incidentally, in The Sacramento Bee, Salmons puzzles over why the Sixers didn't bring pick up his scant $2 million option. You'd think it was proof that they never really wanted to trade Iverson. According to Salmons, though, the Philly staff was just kind of slow:

"Everybody else realized it," Salmons said. "When I played without AI, I produced. Other teams around the league recognized what was going on, and I figured this staff would really know because they had front-row seats."

And thus concludes the FanHouse's annual John Salmons Post. Our unique John Salmons Post.