Fantasy Friday (Jan. 21)

And we are back after missing two straight weeks of fantasy posts. I apologize for that, and to make it up for you guys, I will take a look at some injuries that have happened of late, and break them down for you.

Jarrett Jack: This guy is out for the season and there is no chance he will return at the end of the season because the Nets aren't in the playoffs run, he is old, and they don't want to risk to have the injury come back. Sorry if you had him, but you now need to drop him.

Eric Bledsoe: There is no possibility that this guy will come back at the end of the season because the Suns aren't in the playoff race anymore. The last thing the Suns want to happen is to have Bledsoe turn out to be like Derrick Rose and Bledsoe is starting to look like him with the injuries. You just are going to have to drop Bledsoe.

Derrick Favors: The Jazz don't want to risk anything with him. He has missed over 15 consecutive games now with back spasms. They want him to be healthy for the remainder of the season. However, you would think that the Jazz would like him back as soon as possible considering that they are right on the edge out of the playoffs. Derrick Favors is a buy low guy right now and you should consider trading for him since he will most likely come back soon and bring in big numbers with him.

Anthony Davis: It has been the sum of Davis's career. Very minor injuries seem to get in his way. He has had shoulder issues as well as ankle issues. I expect him to get a couple more injuries this season. Hopefully he won't get an major injuries though.

Blake Griffin: Blake has been know to have injuries that keep him out for a little bit. However, this has been Blake's best season stat-wise. He is a guy that you could buy low into right now and I do suggest you make a trade for him if it is worth it.

Well, there are some injured players that either need to go or you should trade for. Next week, I hope to have the players of the week so stay tuned in for that.

Welcome back Paul George

"Paul George Pacers" by File:Anthony Tolliver defending Paul George.jpg: joshuak8derivative work: Chrishmt0423 - →This file has been extracted from another file: Anthony Tolliver defending Paul George.jpg.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_George_Pacers.jpg#/media/File:Paul_George_Pacers.jpg

Paul George is back. We have waited a long time for this moment. Pacers fans have had a hard time without him. I don't care if he is on a minutes restriction. Although, this is a Paul George we have never seen before. PG-13. Wearing his #13 jersey for the first time in a Pacers uniform. Of course, we haven't seen the best of PG-13 yet, but expect him to improve through out the rest of the year. Imagine if Paul George wasn't injured this year. He would most likely be an MVP candidate. But then again, imagine if Kevin Durant wasn't injured. He would also be an MVP candidate. Yet, I think we all forget just how skilled Paul George was. Last year he averaged 21.7 PPG, 1.9 Steals per game, 3.5 APG, 6.8 RPG. Not only that, but he was a star player that only averaged 1.9 Turnovers. That's less than Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James. The Pacers are on the outside of the playoffs, and I don't expect them to make it, so this is great encouragement for next year. All I got left to say is, Welcome back Paul George, welcome back.

Brook Lopez leading the way to the Playoffs

The Brooklyn Nets are stepping it up. They want the playoffs more than anyone right now. Who's leading the way? It's not Thaddeus Young or Deron Williams. Although they have both helped in a big way, It's Brook Lopez taking on the challenge. Brook Lopez just took on the scoring load and is plowing a way to the playoff picture. Coming off a devastating injury from last year, Lopez is looking better than ever. Just take a look at his game logs from the last 11 games.

"Brook Lopez against Bobcats" by bwjcaptures - Flickr: bobnets (53 of 58). Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brook_Lopez_against_Bobcats.jpg#/media/File:Brook_Lopez_against_Bobcats.jpg

VS Portland: 32 PTS, 9 REB,
AT Atlanta: 11 PTS, 6 REB,
VS Toronto: 30 PTS, 17 REB, 2 AST
AT New York: 18 PTS, 7 REB, 5 BLK
VS Indiana: 24 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST, 2 BLK
VS Lakers: 30 PTS, 11 REB, 4 BLK
VS Cleveland: 20 PTS, 9 REB
AT Charlotte: 34 PTS, 10 REB, 2 STL, 3 BLK
VS Boston: 31 PTS, 4 REB, 2 BLK
AT Indiana: 26 PTS, 4 REB, 4 BLK
VS Milwaukee: 32 PTS, 18 REB, 5 BLK


Pretty good right? Just look at the game vs Milwaukee. He has had 6 game with at least 30 points in his last 11. Brook Lopez is a great player. Lots of people forget because of his injury he had. If he can keep this up in the playoffs, expect this team to possibly upset some fans if they win a round in the playoffs.

The Hornets Are Slowly Fading

Kemba Walker comes up from behind, Blocks Him! Kemba, last second shot! Wins It!

That's what the beginning of the season was like for the Hornets. However, newly acquired, Lance Stephenson, was not fitting well with this group. Coach Clifford started to bench Lance. Then the most devastating thing that could happen to a Hornets fan, happens. Kemba Walker goes down. He is injured. Small Forward, Gary Neal, was having a great season with this Hornets team. It was impossible for him or Lance to come off the bench and play Point Guard though.

Point Guard, Zach LaVine for the Minnesota Timberwolves was about to participate in the Dunk competition as well as the Rising Stars challenge. He was seeing a lack of minutes, and with Ricky Rubio coming back from injury, he would be placed behind not only Rubio, but Mo Williams too. The Timberwolves made the decision to trade off Mo Williams to get some playing time for a rising Zach LaVine. Of course, the Hornets needed a great veteran Point Guard. Mo Williams had 52 points with the Timberwolves. Obviously this guy could help the Hornets, right?

The Hornets traded off Gary Neal for the Timberwolves, Mo Williams. Mo already was familiar with the Hornets center, Al Jefferson, who had played with Mo on the Jazz. Mo was an immediate impact when he came to the team. They ended up going on a winning streak, Mo won the Eastern Conference player of the week award, and Kemba Walker was close to returning.

Kemba Walker's return didn't help them. It made them worse. Kemba couldn't find rhythem, and Mo couldn't produce that well off the bench. They ended up a couple games out of the playoffs. Now to make matters worse, team center, Al Jefferson has a knee injury. Poor Al could be benched for the rest of the season. As the Celtics and the Nets are on the rise, the Hornets are slowly fading.

Injured Teams

This year has been struck by injury for many team. Many teams were hoping for playoffs and more but then injury got in the way. Lets take a look at the worst

5.Oklahoma City Thunder: Durant and Westbrook went down. But Westbrook came back with fire in his eyes. After Ibaka went down and Durant was out for the rest of the season, it's really hard to see this team making much noise in the playoffs. But you never know with Westbrook.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves: This is a team that suffered way too many injuries this season. They were looking at the possibility of the 8th seed in the West. All of a sudden, Rubio went down on their 5th game against the Magic. Kevin Martin played against the Knicks and broke his wrist at the beginning of the game. After he broke it, he scored 37 points that night. Nikola Pekovic went down (as usual) Shabazz Muhammad went down for the season after averaging about 13 points per game. And this is just to start with.

3. Miami Heat: It's bad enough that LeBron James left their team. Now Chris Bosh is out with blood clots on his lungs. This team thought they could do some great things in the playoffs. Dwayne Wade and Shabazz Napier are out. How does this team expect to beat anyone with two of their stars out. It's going to be a bumpy ride for this Heat team. Someone needs to send them a sympathy card.

2. Los Angeles Lakers: Julius Randel goes down before the season even starts. So does Steve Nash. Kobe goes down of course. Nick Young is injured. The playoff hopes that this team had pretty much flew away. They had to start players like Wayne Ellington who was supposed to be a bench player this year. No playoff for this team. And no more Steve Nash.

1. Indiana Pacers: This team was coming back from the loss in the Eastern Conference Finals looking toward next season. Then Paul George goes down ruining all their hopes of a title run for next season. Minor injuries occurred along the way like George Hill going down. They still await the return of Paul George. We all miss him. But I'm pretty sure the Pacers miss him most.

Why are the Pelicans not in the playoffs

The Pelicans have one of the most talented teams in the NBA. They have all-star Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Jrue Holiday, and Omir Asik. That is a great starting five, but they are not in the playoff picture. Why? First off, injuries. This team has been hit hard with injuries. Anthony Davis has been out for about half the season. Jrue Holiday has also had injuries. Those are just the main ones. This team is great with their play running. However, if you are going to win games people have to hit shots. Tyreke Evans is a player who has failed to hit shots when their main players have been out with injury. Of of the main reasons though, is that they are in the western conference. If they were in the east, they would be in the 6th seed, not to mention they would have more games against teams like the 76ers and the Knicks. That's tough luck though, because your in the West and there is nothing you can do about that. This team has a record of 39-34 so they should be a playoff team. What do they need to do to get to the playoffs? All they can do. Win as many games as they can, and hope the Thunder loose some key games. Other than that, you can't do much in the West. I feel bad for this talented team as they have been struck by injury and are stuck in such a talented conference. I wish good luck to the Pelicans in their playoff hunt. One of these years, they will get it. They will make the playoffs.