Fantasy Friday (Dec. 3)

Another week of Fantasy basketball is here. There have been some great player this week, as well as some disappointing players, so lets take a look at all of them.

Over-Performers Of The Week

1. Alec Burks: This guy has been big for his team. In this past week he has averaged 20.3 PPG, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Not to mention the 46% behind the arc.
2. Arron Afflalo: Has 31 points in one night and 13 in the next. He has played pretty well. Not to mention he is gathering ton of rebounds and shooting lights out from the field.
3. Pau Gasol: 17.7 PPG, 14.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 2.3 BLPG this week. That is over-performing or Pau.

Under-Performers Of The Week

1. Jahlil Okafor: His off-court issues might be contributing to this, but he has been not playing so hot of late. This week, he has shot 36% from the field and has just averaged 10 PPG. Not to great.
2. Nerlens Noel: Jahlil's front-court buddy hasn't been the best either. In his last 3 games he has averaged just 7.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1 steals, and 0.3 blocks with 2.7 turnovers and 36% shooting. Philly's big boys have not been that great this last week.  

Pick-ups Of The Week

1. Mirza Teletovic: He has been playing great this week averaging over 15 PPG and 4 three-pointers. He is owned by 18% in Yahoo and 9.4% on ESPN.
2. Rodney Stuckey: This week has been great for him averaging 15.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. He is owned by 5% in Yahoo and 5.2% in ESPN.

I didn't include Isaiah Canaan on the Pick-ups because Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall are coming back to the 76ers and he will get less production. Hope you all have a great week in fantasy and I hope to see you next week here on NBA Inside The Play Nation!

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.

Hawks VS Nets (game 2)

Final Score: Hawks win 96-91



Hawks lead series 2-0

"Deron Williams for the tie! No Good! He Missed the Wide Open Jumper!" This was the most disappointing game for Deron Williams yet and the Hawks took the win. I will break down this win here. Let's start with the Nets.

The Nets kept it close the whole game. Jarrett Jack had a great overall game as he played a big part in that game. And guess what! Teletovic is back. He only played about 4 minutes, but still, it's nice to see him on the floor. Deron Williams really has to step up in this series though. He only had 2 points and missed a game tying shot. Also, point guards Jarrett Jack and Deron Williams had a combined 7 turnovers. You can't have that happen, especially against a great transition team like the Hawks. Thaddeus Young only had 2 points as well. The Nets need some more players to step up in this series if they are to get a win.

The Hawks had another great team win. Carroll Had an off game but the rest of the team stepped it up. One thing that they need to bring up though, is their Field Goal %. They shot under 40% from the field. Al Horford had a great game and a near triple-double. He 14 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks. Great game. If they keep this up, I expect them to sweep this series if they can bring their Field goal % up.