Hardwood Recap "Brand New"

This blogger is getting on my nerves right now because it won't let me put up pictures or use bold typing, but life goes on, and so does fantasy hoops. Even with just four games last night, there were some interesting developments in the NBA. Lets check it out shall we?


Atlanta Hawks
Joe Johnson dropped 33 on the Blazers for his fourth consecutive 30 pt game. He also chipped in with 6 boards and 6 assists. This guy is having an incredible season shooting over 50% for the season, 40 3's, 28 ppg. He is the #10 in Yahoo! rankings right now, and although it looks like he could do this all season, if you have the chance to trade him for a real stud(Kobe, Dirk, Arenas, Brand) don't think twice. In other news, Speedy Claxton is still starting and its really starting to get on my nerves. He put up a measley 7 pts while Tyronn Lue scored 19. Josh Smith is clearly improving, even after injuring his eye a couple days ago, he was able to play last night and scored 13 with 12 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. If you can still buy low on this guy, do it!

Charlotte Bobcats
Rookie phenom Adam Morrison was only able to score 2 points against the Pistons, one of the few teams in the NBA that actually plays defense. Gerald Wallace snatched a team high 10 rebounds to go with his 8 points. I'm sure most owners still are frustrated with Wallace but 10 rebounds is encouraging, although he did shoot 0-4 from the charity stripe.

Detroit Pistons
The Pistons are boring. Basically all of their starter put up around 15-20 ppg and they play the same 6 guys every night. Sometimes Ronald "Flip" Murray gets in the game.....how can you not root for a guy named "Flip"

Los Angeles Clippers
Elton Brand exploded for 31 points on 12-14 shooting. Lets hope he keeps this up and returns to last seasons form. Tim Thomas got a start and showed up ready going for 20 points on 7-11 shooting including 5-7 from distance.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Mike James may have broken out of his slump last night, putting up 20 points on 8-14 shooting with 6 assists, 3 treys and a steal. This is good news for me considering I used a pretty high draft pick on him and he has just been wasting away on my bench while I have inserted Monta Ellis. Let's hope for my sake that Mike James has more games like this one.

Orlando Magic
Dwight Howard was held to under 10 rebounds for the first time since november 15th, but still had a solid game with 16 points and 2 blocks. Darko had a third consecutive game of over 10 pts, and is a good source of blocks, but until he gets his rebounding up, I wouldn't feel confident with him in my lineup. But if he is somehow on your free agent list, stash him away on your bench.

Philadelphia 76ers
It turns out I was right about Kevin Ollie losing his starting job, but I didn't think Andre Iguodala was going to take over at PG. I still say sell high on him as his rebounding and scoring is sure to drop playing PG and with Webber back in the lineup. The rookie Rodney Carney is now starting. Nobody knows how long this will last, but if he continues starting, keep an eye on him, although I can't see him having much value with Iverson, Iguodala, Webber, Dalembert, and Korver on the team. Now that I know Iggy can play PG, the lineup I would like to see is Iggy, AI, Korver, Webber, Dalembert. Maybe this will be the lineup when Korver's ankle heals.

Portland Trailblazers
Zach Randolph had another 30 pt game and with basically no other options on the team, don't look for that to change much. If Randolph stays healthy, he is going to have a monster year. On a side note, Martell Webster drained 4 treys and finished with 18 points.