Pau Gasol continues his ascension to the fantasy elite (I know he's up there, but this season, in terms of averages [due to a little setback with his hamstring injury], he's really up there)- especially when he posts lines like these: 26 points on 9-15 shooting, 8-9 free throws, 22 boards, 4 assists, a steal and 4 blocks. Gasol has been on a tear recently, as he grabbed 22, 16, 20, and 20 boards in the past 4 games all the while contributing in practically every single category except treys. Kobe Bryant continued his scoring binge (What's new?) with 39 points on 13-28 shooting and 12-12 from the line. But the two points that mattered the most was the two he scored with his Lakers down by one in overtime with 1 second left. (What's new?)
It was really a good game. Scott Skiles (a coach I'm very high on) really gets his players to bring their 'A' game every night. The Bucks played stingy defense, ran offensive sets, crashed the offensive boards and outplayed the Lakers for the first 99% of the game. It was really a perfect opportunity to get a victory over the Evil Empire of Basketball, and well- they blew it. The Bucks were up by 6 with 1 minute left, (I think Kobe and I shared the same exact thought at this point in the game, which was: "Are we really going to lose to the Milwaukee Bucks? No, I don't think so.") when Kobe decided that he was going to score the next 7 points to carry the Lakers to victory. He made a short jumper, a lay-up and an And-1, and the final killing dagger at the last second. In between there somewhere, fantasy sleeper Ersan Ilyasova (a career high 24 points on 10-18 shooting, 5 and 4, with 3 treys) missed 2 free throws, which reminded me of when Andrew Bogut (16 and 12) also missed a potential game-winning free throw at the end of regulation.
Lots of games on TV tonight: Lakers/Bucks, Clippers/Timberwolves (terrible basketball), Mavericks/Thunder, and Kings/Wizards.
Other than the two Laker superstars, there was a lot of other fantasy goodness today. You know the usual suspects: Dirk Nowitzki (35 points on 13-18 shooting, 2-2 treys, 7-8 from the line, 11 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block), LeBron James (36 points on 12-26 shooting, 3-6 treys, 9-11 free throws, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and a block), Troy Murphy (26 points on 10-13 shooting, 5-7 treys, 1-1 from the line, 15 boards, 3 assists, a block and no turnovers), Tim Duncan (27 points on 11-22 shooting, 5-6 from the line, 15 boards, 4 assists, a steal and 4 blocks), David West (32 points on 15-22 shooting, 2-2 from the line, 12 boards, and assist and 2 steals), Monta Ellis (35 points on 16-31 shooting, 6 and 5) all played beastly, while Carmelo Anthony (38 points, 19 of it coming from the line [19-21], 9 boards, 3 assists, a steal, and a block) continued his campaign for fantasy first-round value, and Dwight Howard almost recorded a triple-double the unconventional way by scoring 18 points on 6-7 shooting, 6-8 free throws, grabbing 14 boards, and rejecting 8 shots.
If there's any debate on who the leading candidate for the rookie of the year should be, I am on board with Tyreke Evans (26 points on 9-18 shooting, 8-10 from the line, 6 rebounds, 6 assists [Don't act surprised; he's averaging these kinds of numbers for the season], and 2 blocks) I just finished watching him absolutely destroy Gilbert Arenas (33 points on 10-22 shooting, 3-6 treys, 10-12 from the line, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals), who actually played a decent game. He (Evans) got into the paint at will, and layed up half his shot attempts as if he didn't even feel bodies pulling him down. In one instance, Arenas drove hard to the basket and got in the air, attempting to shoot the ball with 2 hands. Evans hardly left his feet as he simply took the ball out of Arenas' hands with only one hand. It was amazing. And, with 5 seconds left in the game and his Kings up by 1 point, Arenas, a notorious late game hero, had Evans isolated on the top of the key, one on one. Arenas drove to this right, where Evans had predicted he would go. Evans poked the ball clean out of his dribble and recovered the ball for a steal. Arenas then fouled Evans (effectively picking up his 6th foul and leaving the game). Evans then went to the free throw line, and coolly drained 2 free throws. The Wizards missed a game-tying three-point attempt, and the Kings won.
I don't have anything against Brandon Jennings (11 points on 4-11 shooting, and nowhere to be season in clutch time in the Bucks' OT loss to LA). He grew up in L.A. and has mad game. He scored 55 points in a game (though it was against the defense-less Warriors), and had a strong debut, where he almost recorded a triple-double. Despite his memorial performances, he is not as consistent and for that matter- as strong as Evans is. Evans is a more efficient scorer (48% to 41%), gets to the line more often (6.0 to 4.0) while shooting at similar percentages (78% to 80%), grabs more rebounds (5.1 to 3.8), steals the ball more (1.6 to 1.1), and turns the ball over less (2.8 to 3.1). Jennings scores more (21 to 20), but he attempts more shots (15.6 to 18.8), and gets more assists (5 to 6) and treys (2.3 to 0.5). The treys are the only reason why Jennings is even close to Evans in fantasy.
Outside of fantasy, Evans is bigger, stronger, and better at driving to the hoop. (The previous claim can be applied to 99% of the league as well). He is a better defender, a better rebounder, a better scorer, a better theif, and an overall better player. The only area where Jennings has Evans covered is the long-range shot: the trey.
The trey, by the way, is an over-rated statistic. If one shoots 2-6 from the long range, one would net 6 points. If one shoots 3-6 from close range, one would net the same amount of 6 points. However, statistics prove that it is better to shoot from close range if you're going to get the same amount of points. The reason? Long range shots create long rebounds, and long rebounds create transition offense- which happens to be the most efficient offense in basketball. Close range shots, however, create short rebounds, which force opponents to set up a half-court offense. So, shooting a lot of treys (and missing [it comes with shooting a lot]) hurts your team's defense. (See Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks).
Life lesson of the day: Don't trade the future ROY Tyreke Evans (like I did yesterday prior to this game). Oh, and don't let Kobe Bryant even attempt a game-winning shot. (What's new?)
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