Fantasy Friday (Nov. 27)

Well, this is going to be another classic fantasy post, but first, I want to go over Jonas Valanciunas and his injury.

Jonas Valanciunas is going to be out for about 6-8 weeks with a broken hand. If you have him, that isn't that great. If you trade him, you aren't going to a good value out of him. That is really going to hurt you. However, if your team is struggling, you can trade for this guy low. When he comes back, he is going to do really well, which could really help your team out.

Over-Performers Of The Week

1. Luis Scola: With Jonas Valanciunas out, this man has played great. In the past 4 games, Scola has averaged 17 PPG and 6.25 RPG. That is great, and he will most likely continue til Valanciunas comes back.
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo: This freak has averaged 20 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 steal, 1.3 blocks in the last 4 games while only averaging 1.3 turnovers. You might say, I don't want Giannis, he shoots horribly! Well guess what, he shot 60.9% from the field, 50% from 3, and 91.3% from the FT line in the last 4 game! He has over-exceeded my expectations this week.

Under-Performers Of The Week

1. Kevin Martin: The last 3 games, Kevin Martin has shot 30% from the field and 33% from the 3 point line this week. While he is still doing well from the FT line, K-Mart is struggling with his offense only averaging 10 PPG this week. I do expect him to do better as he gets through this shooting slump, but I would put him on your bench as of right now.
2. John Wall: He has averaged okay numbers, but they aren't John Wall numbers. This week he has averaged 13.3 points, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers. Not only that but his shooting hasn't been the best as it is under 40% from the field. Like K-Mart, J-Wall is just having a tough time right now, and I expect him to pick it up.

Pick-Ups Of The Week

1. Bismack Biyombo: This guy won't be scoring much, but he will be getting you boards with Valanciunas is out. This week he has averaged 10 rebounds per game. He is owned by 14% on Yahoo and 12.7% on ESPN
2. Marco Belinelli: This past week he has averaged 17.5 PPG while making 3 threes per game. He is only owned by 18% on Yahoo and 11.7% on ESPN.

So there are your players of the week. Hoped you liked it. If you want to see past fantasy posts, just go to the fantasy section on the top you your page. See you all next week here on NBA Inside The Play Nation.

Throwback Thurday (Nov. 26)

Well, it's Thanksgiving. Not only that, but it is also Thursday. And today we are going to look back at two 50 point game that were scored on the Denver Nuggets, this day in history, and later we will look at the career of Shawn Kemp.

The Denver Nuggets have had a tough time on November 26th in the past. On November 26, 1988, Michael Jordan scored 52 points in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Michael Jordan shot 70% from the field and 60% from 3-point range in the game. He was making everything. Not only that, but MJ had a near triple-double as he had 7 assists and 11 rebounds. Pretty impressive huh? But Mike wasn't the only one who had a good game. Scottie Pippen had a great game off the bench for the Bulls as he had 19 points and 8 rebounds along with 4 blocks. However Pippen would foul out of the game.

The Nuggets would spoil Jordan's big night as they played great offense and the Bulls wouldn't know how to respond on defense. Alex English had 29 points and 9 assists for the Nuggets. Walter Davis would come off the bench scoring 28 points. 6 players for the Nuggets had over 10 points and 3 of them had over 20 points in the game. The Nuggets played great on offense and would end up winning the game, 128-123, leaving the Bulls to a 2 game losing streak.

Now, flash-forward exactly 6 year to November 26, 1994 when the Nuggets went up against the Dallas Mavericks. In that game, Jim Jackson, of the Dallas Mavericks, had a 50 points game. He and his teammate, Jamal Mashburn, would lead the Mavericks to victory. Mashburn had 35 points in the game. Jim Jackson shot 60% from the field, however, 16 of his 50 points came from the FT line. Jackson shot 16-17 from the line and really got the Nuggets into foul trouble. All of the starters for the Nuggets had at least 4 fouls. Mutombo was the only one who fouled out of the game with 6.

The Nuggets would end up losing the game in OT 124-123. It is weird that the Nuggets had two 50 point games scored on them on the same date, but the really weird thing is that they both happened on a Saturday. So I guess Saturday, November 26th isn't the best date to be on the Denver Nuggets.

"Shawn Kemp Concord High School 1988" by Concord High School - LeCount, Gale (Ed.). (1988) Concordian 1988 (Vol. 57), (p.70). Elkhart, Indiana: Concord High School.. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

I also want to say Happy Birthday to Shawn Kemp. He is an NBA Legend that was well known for his time with the Seattle Supersonics. While he wasn't the greatest player, as he only averaged 14.6 PPG over his career, he was a great explosive player to watch. No one matched his explosiveness at the rim, and if you were in his way, he would go over you.

He played really great in the playoffs, averaging 18.7 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 7 post-seasons with the Sonics. Out of those 7 playoff runs included a trip to the Finals where him and guard, Gary Payton, lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Shawn Kemp had a career full of highlights. While the numbers don't look that impressive, he will always be remembered as a legend in the hearts of all the Sonics fans. While the Sonics don't exist today, there is still Sonics pride out there. And at the heart of it is Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Nov. 17-23)

This week, the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award goes to Damian Lillard. This week, Lillard made his mark, let's take a look how.

This week, the Trailblazers played 3 games, winning 2 of them. One of those game were against the Clippers. The main reason for the Trailblazers winning this week was because of Damian Lillard. This week, Lillard averaged 26.7 PPG, 7.3 APG, 4.3 RPG, and 1.7 steals per game.

Now, Lillard didn't shoot the best from 3-point range, as he only shot about 30%, but he made up for it at the free-throw line. He shot 16 free throws this week, making all of them. Lillard also managed to really help offensively and defensively. His offensive and defensive efficiency were great as he had a 96.3 defensive rating and an 104.5 defensive rating this week.

While me might not have shot the best, Lillard made some clutch plays. He came through in the win against the Clippers nailing 3 three-pointers within the last 5 minutes of the game that really turned things in favor for the Blazers and put the game away.

I do want to point out just how great Lillard did from mid-range this week. Lillard made 52.9% from mid-range going 9-17 from there. Most of these shots however, were in isolation, because 88.9% of those shots were unassisted. So it is nice to see Lillard taking it inside the arc a little bit as he was missing from long range. Only 9 of his 28 shots were assisted. So Lillard was in isolation in most of the game. It is clear that he completely took the team on his back and carried them to 2 wins this week.

I want to congratulate Damian Lillard for winning this award and I hope to see more great play like this in the future. Congratulations Damian Lillard, for winning the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award. Although it might not mean a lot to you, it means a lot to us.
 

The Suns Are Hot! (For Now)

"Markieff Morris" by Mwinog2777 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

The Phoenix Suns have been winning games and are currently sitting at a record of 7-5. Now, why has this been? Well let's start off with the Suns guard play that they seem to be very successful with.

Eric Bledsoe has averaged some great numbers for this Suns team and is starting to look like an all-star player. In 12 games, he has averaged 22.8 points, 4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.1 steals while shooting 37.7% from 3-point range. Not only that but his backcourt brother, Brandon Knight, has been amazing as well. He has averaged 21.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.4 steals as well as shooting 41.3% from 3-point range. These 2 have done really well together.

Brandon Knight has really been the reason for the Suns success. When the Suns lose, Knight averages 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 4.4 turnovers as he shoots just 37.2% from the field, and only 27.6% from 3. In the wins, however, Knight averages 25.3 points, 5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and only 2.6 turnovers as he shoots 50.8% from the field and 49% from 3. So as you can see, Phoenix wins when Brandon Knight plays good, but when he plays bad, the Suns lose.

This may be surprising, but the Suns aren't that great defensively when Tyson Chandler is on the floor. Despite Tyson Chandler being known for a defensive player over the course of his career, the Suns play their best defense with Alex Len at center and T.J. Warren in the game. Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight seem to take a part in the defense and they average a great amount of steals. Also, Teletovic has been great as the team has had an amazing offensive and defensive rating when he is on the floor.

Markieff Morris has not played well for this team. In fact, his defensive rating is the worst on the team, and his offensive rating isn't so hot. This is a guy that should be traded off. I think a team they would trade him to is the Wizards. They would trade him for a guy like Nene. The problem is that Markieff hasn't averaged this low of numbers in 3 years in points, rebounds, and assists. This guy is hurting his team more than he is helping and I think it is more of an attitude problem that occurred this summer after he expressed his thought on the Suns trading off his brother.

The Phoenix Suns have been great to start the season, no doubt. Just take a look at their positions in the league in these categories.

• Points Per Game      - 3rd                - 105.8 PPG
• Rebounds Per Game- 3rd                -   47.4 RPG
• 3-point Percentage   - 3rd                -  38.6%
• Steals Per Game       - Tied For 5th -  9.2   
• Pace Of Play            - 3rd                - 102.42

Not to mention that they are 4th in offensive rating within the last 5 minutes of the game, but they are also 29th in defensive rating within the last 5 minutes, meaning that they are horrible in defense in the end of game situations. So why have they been winning so many games. Well, here is the issue. The Suns haven't beat any great teams really. Here is who they have won against.

• The Nuggets twice (6-7)
• The Blazers twice (5-9) 
• The Kings (4-9)
• The Lakers (2-10)
• The Clippers (6-6)

So really, the only somewhat impressive one was the win against the Clippers, in which that team hasn't even gotten off to the hottest start. They have taken care of business against these easy teams, but they really haven't beaten any tough teams yet. So, you have to look at this like the Suns are going to have a tough time making the playoffs. They have to continue their success, but most of all, Brandon Knight just has to play good. Just look at the stats. This is going to be tough for the Suns but I think that they have a chance to make the playoffs. I think that they have to trade off Markieff Morris. Bledsoe and Knight are amazing, and I think both should make the all-star game this year. Hopefully we see more from them and the Suns as they head into harder competition.

Fantasy Friday (Nov. 20)

So this was an interesting week. I would like to point out some injuries again that may affect your fantasy team before we get to our weekly awards.

Anthony Davis: Injured again. While the injury seems to be day to day. I expect these injuries from him all season as we have had many of them in the past.

Bradley Beal: Hopefully he will be back soon. He provides great numbers for his team and he is really useful. Don't get too worried with Beal, because he should be back strong.

J.J. Redick: He is likely to comeback soon and it won't be long before he is putting up 3-pointers.

Derrick Rose: I would be worried about him because this always seems to repeat each year. Derrick Rose is at all time lows over his career, so if you have him, you might want to look to trade him if you can.

Over-Performers Of The Week

1. Nicolas Batum: He did pretty good this last week. While he only had 4 points one night, the other 3 he had 24, 33, and 28 points. Not only that but he has shot over 50% from the 3-point line and from the field as well as averaging 5 rebounds and 4 assists this week.
2. Brandon Knight: This week he has averaged 21 PPG, 6.3 APG, 4.7 RPG, and 2 steals. However, he has averaged over 3 turnovers so be sure to watch out for that.
3. Kristaps Porzingis: If I didn't include this guy, people would be screaming at me. He had 2 average games, then he had a 29 point, 11 rebounds game with a block thrown in there. Porzingis is over-performing this week, and New York hopes it continues.

Under-Performers Of The Week

1. Ty Lawson: This week he has averaged 4 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 rebounds. Not only that but he has averaged 25% from the field, 50% from FT, and 11% from 3-point range as well as averaging 2.3 turnovers. Pretty bad huh?
2. Markieff Moris: He has a 6 point game and a 5 point game this week. He is also not doing so hot in the rebounding category.

Pick-Ups Of The Week

1. Mario Chalmers: Ever since being traded, this guy has been playing great, averaging 18.7 points, 1.7 steals, and 3.2 threes this week. Chalmers is only owned by 29% on Yahoo, and 20.5 on ESPN.
2. Nikola Jokic: He wasn't the best this week, but he did have a great game. Last game he had 23 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Pretty impressive. He is only owned by 19% on Yahoo and 4.7% on ESPN!
3. Jameer Nelson: This man hardly ever commits turnovers and he will get you assists and rebounds. This week he has brought in some scoring too averaging 10.5 points and 3 assists and I do expect these numbers to rise as long as Mudiay continues to struggle. He is owned by 2% on Yahoo and 2.5% on ESPN.

Keep your eyes on Chris Paul guys. He had a great game after coming back from his injury last night against the Warriors. See you next week.

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Nov. 10-16)

DeMarcus Cousins is the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week, and this is the first of his career with many more to come. What earned him this award? Let's take a look, Inside the player of the week.

The Kings have won all 3 of their games this week, one of them being against Andre Drummond and the Pistons. In those 3 games, Cousins has averaged 36.3 Points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks. He has been the main reason for their success this past week.

Cousins had a major bounce back after the week before when he had a bad game against the Spurs, and reportedly cussed out Coach George Karl in the locker room after the game. Cousins took it personally to make things right with the team, and you could tell from his bounce back performance this week.

One major factor in Cousins being player of the week was his 3 point shooting. This week he shot 60% from beyond the arc. And it wasn't like he shot 5 threes this last week. He shot 9-15 on three point attempts this week. He played shot really well.

Something really impressive that we don't see from Cousins that much, was him limiting his turnovers. He only averaged 2.7 turnovers this week. While it is a small sample size, it is still strange to see knowing that Cousins hasn't been so careful in the past with handling the basketball. Last season he was 2nd in turnovers and the year before he was 5th in turnovers. So only averaging 2.7 turnovers this week is a big accomplishment for D-Marc.

The Kings really aren't that great defensively, but without Cousins, they aren't great offensively either. When he is on the court, the Kings have a 105.7 offensive rating, and when he is off the court, they only have a 96.8 offensive rating. Think of it this way, if they didn't have Cousins, the Kings would be ranked 30th in offense and 25th in defense, so it is a good thing they have Cousins. Let's face it, if the Kings didn't have Cousins, they probably wouldn't have won that many games this week, if any.

What Will Super Mario Bring To Memphis?

"Chalmers Wizards" by Keith Allison - originally posted to Flickr as 00060983. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

As you have probably heard, there has been a trade in the NBA. Take a look at the players that were involved below:

Memphis Traded: Beno Udrih, Jarnell Stokes, a future second round pick
Miami Traded: Mario Chalmers, James Ennis

This is a big trade for both teams, especially for the Grizzlies, who are currently 4-6. With the Grizzlies struggling with defense and offense right now, Mario Chalmers should be able to help improve it for sure.

Mario Chalmers has such a big impact when he is on the floor. The team's defensive rating is so much better with Chalmers on the court. In fact, the Miami Heat's defensive rating was 81.7 with Chalmers on the court, and 98.1 when Chalmers isn't on the court. Big difference right.

He also will bring shooting and passing. When Mario is on the court, the Miami Heat shoot 42.9% from 3-point range, and when he is off the court, the Heat shoot only 27.8% from 3-point range. However, this isn't because of Chalmers shooting the ball well. He has only shot 15.4% from deep this season. I think the main reason why is that Chalmers knows how to move the ball. When Chalmers is on the court, the Heat average 22 APG, but when he isn't, they only average 17.8.

One of the best things that the Grizzlies are going to get from Chalmers is offense. The Memphis Grizzlies are 29th in the league in offense, which is pretty bad considering there are 30 teams. They have an offensive rating of 94.8. Chalmers will really help on the floor and here is why. Chalmers had the best offensive rating on the Heat. It was 107.8. When he wasn't on the floor, the Miami Heat had an offensive rating of 99.7. Big difference! If he brought the Miami offense up like that, he can hopefully do the same to the Grizzlies offense.

The other main players involved in the trade is Beno Udrih. Now, I honestly don't see why the Miami Heat made this trade because Mario Chalmers had such a big impact offensively and defensively on this Miami Heat team. I don't see what Beno Udrih brings to this team that Chalmers didn't. Beno Udrih is a good overall defensive player, but he hardly affects his team on the offensive end like Chalmers does. He improves the Memphis offense by only 1.5. The assisting isn't affected that much when Beno is on the floor. There is not drastic change in the 3-point% when Beno is on the floor. I don't see why you would make a trade for Beno when you are giving up someone who is worth more. Then Jarnell Stokes has done nothing in his career. Last season he averaged 3 PPG, and he has done nothing this season but grab 2 rebounds. James Ennis on the other hand has actually done somethings, such as show off his athleticism with some amazing dunks, show us he could play defense, and gave us some points off the bench last season as he averaged 5. The Heat also received a second round pick, but how often do those turnout to actually be worth something. I don't know what the Miami Heat were thinking, but the Grizzlies clearly won this trade.

You can't forget the Mario Chalmers won 2 NBA championships as a starting point guard. This man is going to be a big impact on this Grizzlies team and I expect him to solve some of their problems. 

Fantasy Friday (Nov. 13)

As we head into the 4th week of fantasy basketball, let's take a look at how this week went. We had some great games down the stretch and I do want to point out some injury concerns.

Anthony Davis: He has a history of minor injuries and that is expected from Davis every season. As long as he doesn't have a major injury, he will be fine.

Bradley Beal: This isn't the first time Beal has missed time during the season. He did it last year due to injury and he could put a big dent in your fantasy numbers for sure.

Ricky Rubio: He suffered from ankle injuries and had gotten ankle surgery last summer so anything that bothers Rubio will make him sit out of games just as a safety precaution.

So those injuries you need to factor into your fantasy season. Now let's get to the rest of the post, should we?

Over-Performers Of The Week

1. Eric Bledsoe: It isn't like his scoring is off the charts or anything, it is just that he is doing much more than scoring this week. In just this week alone he has shot 54% from the field and 46% from deep. Not only that but he has averaged 7.6 APG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.6 steals per game in the last 7 days. One thing to watch out for is his turnovers though. He had 8 in his last game.
2. Derrick Favors: He has averaged 18 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 2 APG, 2.7 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game in the past 7 days. He had 7 blocks in his last game! Derrick Favors is amazing right now. Do trade for him if you can because he is a very underrated player.

Under-Performers Of The Week

1. Goran Dragic: He has been pretty disappointing this week only averaging 7.8 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3 RPG, and 0.5 Steals while averaging a disappointing 3 turnovers per game. Not to mention he has shot 34.2% from the field and 9.1% from 3-point land this week.
2. Monta Ellis: He really hasn't played the best only scoring more than 5 in two of his last 4 games. However, has he brought plenty of assists and steals to the table.

Pick-Ups Of The Week

1. Nemanja Bjelica: He is only owned by 45% in yahoo and 30.4% in ESPN. He has averaged 12.3 PPG and 8 rebounds in the last 7 days. Nemanja is the man.
2. T.J. McConnel: This guy is owned by 39% in yahoo and 32.4% in ESPN. He is a great guy to pick up if you need assists and steals. He is averaging 8.5 assists but only 5.5 points.

Well, that is all for this week. Hope you guys liked the post and I will see you next week here on NBA Inside The Play Nation! 

Mo Williams Shoots Down The Jazz

Of course, the Utah Jazz wouldn't go down without a fight, but they would end up losing the game due to amazing performances from Mo Williams and LeBron James. Let's take a look at the game and how this team had this amazing win over the Cavaliers.

Mo Williams Shot The Lights Out!
If you didn't notice it, Mo Williams missed only 1 free-throw and a shot. He shot 8-9 from the field, 4-4 from 3-point range, and 9-10 from the FT line. Not only that, but Mo was moving the ball. He had 6 assists and passed the ball a total of 71 times, more than anybody else on either team. Now, while Mo's shooting was phenomenal, it wasn't like he was taking tough shots. In fact, 7 of Mo's 9 shots were uncontested, meaning that he only took 2 contested shot and he missed one of them. Why didn't the defense get on him then? 2 reasons, the Jazz didn't play that great of defense and Mo is a very smart player. He constantly used pump-fakes, and moved really well with and without the ball. You can't forget the Mo used to be an all-star.

LeBron James
Now, LeBron is a player who can score, and he did that in the 4th quarter. While he scored a total of 33 points, he had 17 in the 4th. Some of that came from Mo finding LeBron, some of it came from poor defense from the Jazz, and some of it was just LeBron making smart plays. As you may know, LeBron isn't a great shooter at all, but he stayed within his range in this game, shooting 6 of his 8 shot attempts within the paint, and you know that those are very high percentage shots for him.

Credit: NBA.com/stats

Burke and Burks Bench Boys
What really kept this Jazz team in the game, were Alec Burks and Trey Burke who came off the bench. Alec had 24 points and shot 4-5 from the 3-point line and Trey Burke had 16 points on 2-3 shooting from deep. Without these guys, the Jazz wouldn't have been able to make the run that they made.

The Jazz Defense
The Cavs great offense was really a result of the Jazz's bad defense. They had 0 blocks as a team. The team had a defensive rating of 119.3 and Rudy Gobert wasn't doing much on the defensive side. He seemed really soft and the whole team wasn't playing that great. Instead, most of the players were fouling and not playing great defense. Even though he only played a little over 13 minutes, Joe Ingles somehow managed to have 5 fouls on the game. Both Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks were in foul trouble as they also had 5 and Rodney Hood fouled out of the game. The whole team had a total of 35 fouls. This isn't something you would want to see from a defensive team.

Other Points

• Kevin Love had 22 points and he shot just 37.5% from the field. He had a scare when he came down on his knee wrong on a fast break, but he appeared to be fine as he continued to play in the game.
• The Jazz had very equal scoring all around. 6 players scored in double figures.
• Gordon Hayward has really struggled this season, as he hasn't shot well and has only had one 20 point game. You could see his struggles again as he 6-16 in the game. Hopefully he starts to play a little better as the season continues.
• Both Mo Williams and LeBron James had 5 turnovers and the Jazz had 11 steals. The Cavs do need to limit their turnovers as it could cost them dearly in some games later in the season.

Well, this was a great game to watch and a great game to breakdown. Hope you guys liked it. I got to give a big thanks to www.nba.com/stats for providing such great stats and charts to help not just NBA Inside The Play but many other websites and blogs with their articles. Also, checkout AP Highlights and their youtube page. They make really great highlights over their, and you will especially like them if you are a Lakers fan so check it out and here is the link: AP Highlights. Again thanks for reading and hope you people loved it.

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Nov. 3-9)

Well, this week I am proud to announce that NBA Inside The Play has teamed up with AP Highlights to present the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award. AP Highlights will give you the highlights and we will give you the breakdown. Now, on to the player of the week!

Andre Drummond gets the NBA Inside The Player Of The Week award not because of his amazing offensive performance. If that were true, James Harden would have won it this week. If you haven't heard, Andre Drummond has been amazing on the boards, averaging 19.4 PPG and 19.6 RPG this season.

Drummond, this week, hasn't had a game with less than 15 rebounds. He had 27 rebounds one night and 29 another. He had 29 rebounds to the whole Pacers team having 42. He had 27 rebounds to the whole Trailblazers team having 40. His rebounding has been impressive. The fact that he has averaged 22 rebounds per game this week is amazing.

Drummond hasn't only been great on the boards, he has been great on the defensive end as well. This week he has averaged 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks. Not only that, but he has a defensive rating of 93.6 this season. He has played so great on the defensive end and it has been really impressive.

So as you can see, his offensive highlights didn't give him this award, it was the other things. He has been great as this team is 5-2, losing only to the defending champs and the Pacers. So, congratulations to Andre Drummond as he is your NBA Inside The Player Of The Week.

Fantasy Friday (Nov. 6)

So, let me start by saying that this has been a great week for fantasy. I do want to note that lots of people have been playing really good. So let's take a look at the players from this week.

Over-Performers Of The Week

1. Festus Ezeli: Let me tell ya something, Festus is a great player, and I expect him to keep it up, at least until Andrew Bogut comes back. He is also owned by only 13% of fantasy owners so he is also a candidate for pick-ups.
2. Tristan Thompson: He didn't look the best early on but he has definitely turned it around. In the last 7 days he has averaged over 10 points and 10 rebounds along with 1.7 blocks. Great job Tristan!
3. Karl-Anthony Towns: This boy has averaged 15 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks! he is one of the best defensive players and he has been doing it in 27 minutes per game.

Under-Performers Of The Week

1. Anthony Davis: This guy really has shot the best from the field. In fact, it has been horrible. He shot 4-20 one night and 3-12 another. He could really do better because he isn't looking like the best player in fantasy right now.
2. Robert Covington: Come on Covington! He is only averaging 4 points and shooting 11% from the field. People are going to have to drop him soon.
3. Andrew Wiggins: Most people thought that he was going to have a wonderful season, and that could still happen, but it has been disappointing so far. He has only shot 29% from the field and doesn't look the best so far.

Pick-Ups Of The Week 

1. Festus Ezeli: He has played well early on and will continue until Bogut comes back. He is only owned by 13% from Yahoo and 8.4% on ESPN. He is a great player to pick up if you need blocks, rebounds, and some extra points.
2. Rodney Hood: He has looked really good this week as he has averaged 12.8 PPG, 3.2 APG, and 1 steal. He is owned by only 56% on Yahoo and 29.5% on ESPN.
3. T.J. McConnell: A name that you need to know. While he is only averaging 4.8 PPG, he is also 4.8 RPG, 8 APG, and 1.5 steals while shooting over 50% from the field. Only 33% of leagues own him on yahoo and only 13.9% on ESPN.

Well, that is all for now, hope you guys have another great week. See you next time!  

NBA Inside The Player Of The Week (Oct. 27- Nov. 2)

I am proud to announce that we will have an award every Tuesday and the first one will be given out today (yes, I know today is Wednesday, just go with it). Every week, I will give out the NBA Inside The Player of the Week award to whoever I believe is worthy of the award. Then I will go into depth on their performance that week and why they deserved it. So, without further interruptions, I present, the first ever, NBA Inside The Player Of The Week Award!

"Stephen Curry shooting" by Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

Yes, the first award goes to the one and only, Stephen Curry. Now Curry has obtained many award, so this really isn't that amazing of one for him, but he still should be proud. Not really because of the award but because of his amazing performance. Let's take a look at those stats Curry!

This week, Curry has averaged 37 PPG, 6.3 APG, and 5 rebounds. If that isn't enough for you, well, then you must not be very convinced on a lot of things, but I will do my best to show you that Curry is deserving of this award. Not only that, but he is shooting 59.5% from the field, which is really tough to do at the guard position considering that most of his shots are from around the perimeter. He also shot 48.8% on 3-pointers, and 96.4 % from Free Throw. These are what I call, BTKKN, otherwise known as, Better Than Kyle Korver Numbers. Now for all you fantasy freaks, he only averaged 2 turnovers per game while averaging these numbers!

Take a look at the defensive side too. He has averaged 2.5 steals in 4 games. He is also helping lead his team to a jaw-dropping number of a 90.4 defensive rating! He has played great on both ends of the floor. In fact, his offensive rating is even more impressive as it is a whopping 119.8. While we are judging this off of 4 games, it has been a very impressive. This guy scored 53 points in the 3rd game of the season, you just can't say that it isn't impressive.

In conclusion, Curry should obviously earn the award because he has put up amazing numbers and has helped his team to a 4-0 start to the season. If this guy keeps it up, expect him to gather many many more of these awards. Congratulations Stephen Curry on winning the first ever NBA Inside The Player Of The Week Award!