Hardwood Recap "Starbury Returns"

Dallas Mavericks
Josh Howard continues his solid play since coming back from injury. A friend of mine calls Howard a “mini-Shawn Marion” and I think that fits. Like Marion, Howard contributes in every facet of the game. Last night he filled up the stat sheet again against the Kings going for 28 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 3pm, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 0 turnovers. If you can somehow still buy low on Howard, go for it, or you might be able to package guys like Barbosa or Luther Head to acquire Howard. Dampier seems to be going back to his old ways and if you are safe in rebounds and there are guys on the waiver wire that you want to pick up, I wouldn’t feel bad about dropping Dampier.

Sacramento Kings
Kevin Martin injured his ankle and was inactive for last night’s game. With his poor play lately I’d monitor a couple of his games when he comes back before sticking him back in your lineup. Brad Miller has been contributing lately but I still think he can improve as he may still be hampered by injury. He produced a solid fantasy line last night finishing with 19 points on 8-15 shooting and added 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Kenny Thomas seems to be the only legitimate rebounder for the Kings grabbing 15 last night to go with his 15 points.

Seattle Supersonics
Rashard Lewis had a huge game in the double OT loss after putting up a couple stinkers. He finished with 36 points on 10-22 shooting and 12-13 from the FT line. He also had 14 rebounds, 4 3pm and 4 assists. Fantasy owners have to love overtime games when their studs play 52 minutes! Wilkins played poorly and with Ray Allen eyeing a Saturday return Wilkins can be dropped. Wilcox has been decent but with Allen out of the lineup, Lewis and Ridnour seem to be the only legitimate fantasy players. The center position for the Sonics is a crapshoot right now and I’m not even going to pretend that I know what the coaching staff is going to do. Who is the starter? Petro? Collison? Sene? Or the guy that started last night, Glyniadakis. I asked myself the same question….Who is Glyniadakis?!?! Anyway, In my opinion, Collison should be the starter but he has been such a disappointment so far this season.

Memphis Grizzlies
Mike Miller was another player that benefited from double OT playing 52 minutes. He had a near triple double finishing with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, while also dropping 5 treys. Chucky Atkins had a huge game including a buzzer beater 3-pointer that sent the game to double overtime. Atkins didn’t start, but he finished with 28 points and 8 assists with 4 3pm. Damon Stoudamire started the game but played just 18 minutes and failed to record a single point. Atkins should be starting but even if he doesn’t, he clearly has more fantasy value right now.


Utah Jazz
The Jazz somehow managed to lose to the Knicks who had only 8 available players after the suspensions from the brawl the other night. The Jazz have been the best rebounding team in the NBA which is why they currently have the second best record in the NBA, but they allowed the Knicks to grab 23 offensive rebounds!!! Deron Williams played well and hit what could have been a game winning shot, but the rest of the team didn’t show up and the lost to the depleted Knicks in overtime. Williams finished with 23 points on 9-19 shooting with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 treys.

New York Knicks
What a night at the most famous arena in the world. A thrilling overtime win against the #2 team in the NBA Utah Jazz. I usually spend my paragraph on the Knicks by ripping them and talking about the stupid moves they make and how bad they are. I do have to mention how stupid they are for getting into a brawl, however I have only good things to say about the Knicks today. The players that did play, played with hear and played with energy. The core players that I see staying with the Knicks for the future are as follows: Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, David Lee, Channing Frye, Eddy Curry, and yes Renaldo Balkman. All of these players (except Crawford at times) play with effort and for the all important “love of the game”. Marbury did have a huge game last night with 29 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds, but I’d be surprised if he keeps that up and goes the rest of the season with controversy. David Lee was the other Knick that came up big against the Jazz. Lee had a career high 20 rebounds including 7 offensive rebounds against the likes of Boozer, Okur, and Kirilenko.

New Orleans Hornets
With David West and Peja Stojakovic needing surgery, Desmond Mason and Rasual Butler look to have bigger roles for the Hornets. Desmond Mason did not live up to that last night but Rasual Butler answered the call. Butler finished with 21 points on 8-18 shooting with 8 rebounds and 4 3pm. He seems to be a solid play for the immediate future.

Miami Heat
Jason Williams played an encouraging 39 minutes and finished with 15 points on 6-14 shooting with 5 assists and 2 rebounds. If his knee can hold up, look into picking him up.

Golden State Warriors
Two Warriors looked impressive to me last night and I can tell you this from experience as some of my friends took me to this game for my birthday which was yesterday. Somehow we got lower level seats for just $23 each and managed to work our way down to the 7th row up from courtside straight across from the Warriors’ bench. Anyway, Baron Davis and Monta Ellis stood out. Davis finished with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, but did commit 8 turnovers. Monta Ellis scored 19 points on 50% shooting and added 6 assists and 3 steals. Richardson played but while he is still nursing injuries, you should keep him on your bench. Davis and Ellis seem to be the most consistent scoring options right now in Golden State

New Jersey Nets
Nenad Kristic or “Curly” as Net fans like to call him was a beast last night even going up against the tough defense of Andris Biedrins. Curly had 20 points in the first half alone but finished with 26 points on 10-15 shooting while pulling down 14 rebounds. Jefferson’s shot was off and there are talks of ankle surgery….not talks that fantasy owners want to hear. Kidd posted another triple-double and Carter put up another stinker managing just 11 points. In other news, Jason Collins didn’t start and played just 7 minutes. My fellow Nets fans and I were thrilled!

Washington Wizards
Brendan Heywood has his starting job back for now, but he isn’t showing much value anyway. I guess if you are desperate for rebounds you can pick him up.

Denver Nuggets
Andre Miller has been playing very well lately, and you can look for his strong play to continue with Melo out for the next 15 games. Last night Miller had 27 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Camby had a strong game matching up with Brendan Heywood as he dominated with 25 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 blocks. Earl Boykins looks to be another beneficiary to the Melo suspension. Boykins could be the scoring leader with Melo out. Last night, he didn’t start but he led the team in scoring with 29 points and added 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

~Brian Melnick aka Big Mel
Contact Brian at bigmel2k5@yahoo.com