Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The NBA Report
Your Fantasy Sports Guy is jumping into the fantasy basketball game. I am going to take the stats from the previous 14 days and find out who is producing the most at the center, guard and forward positions. I’ll also be including an interesting stat or two regarding a player or team, so let’s go!
Center
Dwight Howard – Orlando Magic
No surprise here. Howard is a man amongst boys at his position blowing away all other centers in fantasy points. In Howard’s last five games, he is averaging 25.8 points, 1.5 assists, and an insane 14.33 boards per game.
Guard
Deron Williams – New Jersey Nets
I know that be practically ran Jerry Sloan out of town but was it necessary to trade to Williams to the Nets? I know Williams probably wasn’t the easiest guy to get along with, but the Nets? Well he is still putting up the numbers he was in Salt Lake with 15.8/ 15.2/ 4.2 in his last five. Too bad his team is only 1-4 in those games.
Forward
LeBron James – Miami Heat
Don’t you just wish we had video of the Heat players crying after another loss to the Bulls this week? And don’t you also just wish the LBJ would finally come out and admit he did not go about free agency the right way this past offseason? Regardless of his personal choices, and his team losing six straight games, James is still the best guard in the fantasy game. In his past seven games, he is averaging 27.6/ 6.0/ 8.43. Too bad the Heat bench is horrible and James is now playing almost the entire games. This could be something interesting to watch come playoff time when James’ legs start to get a little tired.
The fun fact for the week takes us to Washington DC to visit the Wizards. Or should I say, on the road with the Wizards? The ‘Zards road record on the season is 1-29! In case you are wondering, they beat the Cavaliers back on February 13. By the way, Cleveland is only 8-24 at home this season.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
NHL: The Second Line
Hello again, hockey fans. Can you believe we only have about six weeks left in the regular season? That means there are only a couple of games remaining in the fantasy regular season. Let’s check out some players that help out down the stretch.
Center
Andy McDonald – St. Louis Blues
Even though the playoff hopes of the Blues are fading, the production from some of the team’s young players isn’t. McDonald is one of those players that have posted some nice numbers the past couple of weeks. The center has four goal, six assists and 15 shots in his last seven games. If you still need a center, McDonald is likely available in your league.
Left Wing
Matt Calvert – Columbus Blue Jackets
Calvert has been scoring for the Blue Jackets all season but has picked it up a bit in the past five games. He has two goals, eight assists and a whopping 17 shots in this timeframe. The Blue Jackets aren’t going to win too many more games, but who cares? All you are worried about are fantasy points so don’t overlook players from bad teams.
Right Wing
T.J. Oshie – St. Louis Blues
Yep, another Blues’ player on the list. In Oshie’s last seven, he has three goals, five assists and 20 shots on net. More importantly, you will be rooting for someone named Oshie. Just think about all the fun you will be having yelling out that name during the Blues games that you will be wanting to watch just so you can yell “Oshie!” If that isn’t enough to pick him up, I am not sure what is.
As a new feature, please follow me on Twitter @FntsySprtsGuy
Sunday, February 20, 2011
2011 Catchers Projections
1.) Joe Mauer – Minnesota Twins
Still the best catcher available. For Mauer owners, Justin Morneau should be good for the beginning of the season. This will certainly raise Mauer’s numbers.
2.) Victor Martinez – Detroit Tigers
It will be interesting to see what happens to Victor’s numbers at Comerica Park, a ballpark which has not been kind to the catcher in the past few years. Still, he has proved to be a great hitter for years now and with some power around him, Martinez should have a nice average and RBI total.
3.) Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
Very rarely does a player live up the hype created before his rookie season, but Posey did just that. In 108 games, Buster hit .305 with 18 homers and 67 RBI for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants (that still does not sound right).
4.) Brian McCann – Atlanta Braves
McCann is a hitting catcher. He should have plenty of opportunities to drive Braves in. With Prado coming back healthy and the addition of Dan Uggla from the Marlins, this could be one very entertaining offense to watch this year.
5.) Carlos Santana – Cleveland Indians
“Smooth” only played in 45 games last season before injuring his left knee. In those games, the rookie only hit .260 but did have six homers and 22 RBI. Let’s face it, if Santana was on a good team that had runners on base all the time, those RBI numbers would be up. This is the issue you will run into with the Indians’ catcher…he plays on the Indians. Having said that, he is a guy you will want to keep an eye on and grab before someone else does.
6.) Kurt Suzuki – Oakland Athletics
I am not really sure why but when the top catchers are discussed, Suzuki’s name never gets mentioned. The A’s catcher hit only .242 but did hit 13 homers and drove in 71.
7.) Matt Wieters – Baltimore Orioles
Wieters has not lived up to expectations yet, but that is because he was projected to become the top catcher in all of baseball. His .268 isn’t good, but come on, he is a catcher! He did pop 14 home runs and 70 RBI last year on a pretty pathetic Orioles team. Now that Baltimore has added a few more hitters with Vladimir Guerro and Derek Lee, don’t forget about this guy. This will give him more base runners to knock in.
8.) Miguel Montero – Arizona Diamondbacks
Montero had a nice start to his 2010 season until an injury forced him to miss most of the balance of the season. In 85 games Miguel hit .266 with nine homers and 43 RBI. Now that he is healthy, it is likely he will come closer to his 2009 numbers when he hit .294, which is very good for a catcher.
9.) Geovany Soto – Chicago Cubs
Soto had a comeback year in 2010. The Cubs’ catcher hit .280 with 17 homers and 53 RBI. These are certainly some stats that you can live with from a catcher. So you might be wondering why he is ranked so low then. Well the reason is because we just don’t know if he will be 2010 Soto or the 2009 Soto that hit .218 and was benched for quite a few games because of his awful play. He is worth the chance of a late round pick
10.) Jorge Posada – New York Yankees
Let’s just say it right now; if you are still looking for a catcher, are you really expecting a lot? Probably not and you really shouldn’t be. More than likely you will be picking up whoever is hot and dropping the catcher you had from the previous week. Wait, I am supposed to support the pick of Posada right now. Well, he is on the Yankees and will have fellow Yanks on the bags when he is up to the dish. He should be DHing a lot more this season which should help save those old knees...SOLD!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
NHL: The second line returns
Center
R.J. Umberger – Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo has been playing much better recently. The Sabres are 4-1 in their last five and are actually playing the way many of us thought they would. Umberger has contributed nicely this past week with two goals, five assists, and plus- eight and has 10 shots on net. If you need some solid center backup, check him out.
Left Wing
Ilya Kovalchuk – New Jersey Devils
Well look who decided to play! One of the most prolific goal-scorers in the past decade started off like he forgot what a slapshot was. But in the past week, “Be Illinya’” and the rest of the Devils are playing good hockey. Tony Soprano’s team is 3-1 in the past week and 9-2 in their last 11 games. Kovalchuk has three goals, two assists, a plus- five and 16 shot on goal. Now, I know you are thinking to yourself, ‘Fantasy Sports Guy, Kovalchuk is taken is all leagues,’ which is true. But there are two reasons that I bring him up. The first is that he has played like chuk all year (whatever that means, I am not really sure, but it doesn’t sound good) and secondly, I really wanted to test out his new ‘Be Illin’ya nickname. Please be sure to bring it up to your friends the next time you are talking about New Jersey Devils hockey.
Right Wing
Mikael Samuelsson – Vancouver Canucks
We have talked about this through the season: You cannot really go wrong with Canucks players. There is so much offense going on that your player is bound to either get points, SOGs or increase his +/-. In Samuelsson’s last three games the RWer has three goals, four assists, a plus- 4 and has 16 SOG. If he is available, take him! You will have to suffer supporting someone wearing those hideous Canucks’ jerseys, but hey, it is not his fault.
Don’t think the fantasy information will be cutting back now that football season is officially complete for a while. In fact, it will be quite the opposite because IT is almost here…yep, it is almost baseball time! Your Fantasy Sports Guy will begin the baseball coverage starting next week. We will be going position-by-position with rankings, checking out what teams helped themselves out in the offseason, and which watched as everyone has fun.
As a new feature, please follow me on Twitter @FntsySprtsGuy
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Back from the break
Center
With Sidney Crosby out the past couple of weeks with a concussion issue, the Tampa Bay Lightnings’ Steven Stamkos has taken over as the leader at C. Through 52 games, Stamkos has a league leading 39 goals with 29 helpers and is a plus -14.
Left Wing
This race isn’t even close; in fact it never was really a race at all. The Vancouver Canucks’ Daniel Sedin has lead all season long. In 51 games Sedin has 27 goals and 39 assists and is a plus- 21. Hands down the best fantasy LW in the league this year. Sedin also gets points for being a fantasy stud being a twin. Think about it, how many good twins are there in sports (BTW – prediction: Minnesota Twins will finish in third place in the A.L. Central, but that is for another day).
Right Wing
This battle is basically to figure out who accidentally gets the most fantasy points. So far, your leader is The Lightnings’ Martin St. Louis. He actually is having a really nice year with 20 goals, 42 assists and a plus eight.
Defense
Here is one that is probably a surprise to most. Kris Letang of the Pittsburg Penguins is leading the way with seven goals, 34 assists and a plus- 21. You can bet that those assists and plus/ minus will just increase greatly when Crosby comes back.
Goalie
Call it a comeback for Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins. Thomas was brutal last season going 17-18 with a 2.56 GAA but has followed it up with a great first half this year going 25-5 with a 1.82 GAA. Let’s see if he can keep it up and secure his starting role in the Bruins’ net.
For more hard-hitting and random sports thoughts, follow me on Twitter @FntsySprtsGuy
Thursday, December 16, 2010
NHL: The second line – Week 10
Center
Ryan Kesler – Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver is 5-2 in their last seven games and scoring a lot of points. Kesler is helping out with five goals and four assists in that span with a plus- 6. Plus he is on a team call the Canucks. Can you ever have too many players from a team called the Canucks? The answer is no.
Left Wing
Chris Kunitz – Pittsburgh Penguins
Kunitz is on a line with Sidney Crosby which is pretty much the equivalent of being one of the other two guys on the court with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. He is going to get his points without the pressure of being a really good player. Prior to missing the past two games for the Pens, Kunitz scored one goal and seven assists in his last seven games and posted a plus- 10. When healthy, Kunitz is that guy who will be getting the points because of the line he is on so if he is available, scoop him up and thank Sid for the points.
Right Wing
Troy Brouwer – Chicago Blackhawks
Although the ‘Hawks are only 3-4 in their last seven, Brouwer has put together some nice games. The right wing has five goals and an assist in that span, which is not too bad for a shallow right wing category. The ‘Hawks can score goals and when they start to click again like they can, they will score a lot.
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