Dirk Nowitzki

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NBA 2014: Our six-pack of Sleepers for Draft Day

Posted by fantasyfurnace on October 13, 2014
Posted in: NBA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

A new season is on the horizon with pre-season games already underway. Whistles will be blowing, technicals will be handed out (right? Joey Crawford)?, and buzzer beaters will be dropping. We have selected six potential sleepers for this season in this, the most popular and read of all our Basketball articles. Enjoy the 2014-’15 season and good luck in your leagues!

1. DeMarre Carroll-Forward-Hawks- This likely mid-round candidate, will continue to help your team in multiple categories such as points, steals, 3PT, FG%, and FT%, plus Carroll has committed himself to the 3-pointer as he had his best year in this category in 2013-’14. We see him knocking down around 2 shots from downtown per game while averaging around the same amount of steals. Throw in a half-dozen REB and you’ve got yourself a nice all around player who should be available at around pick 60.

2. Marcus Smart-Point Guard-Celtics- Smart, the sixth overall pick in the draft, will make for a good news-bad news scenario… He won’t start in Boston unless Rajon Rondo is traded or injured, and as we went to post, rumors regarding possible destinations for Rondo still abound. The good news is that should the 20 year old lottery pick actually get the start, his owners will garner a ton of assists and steals. His aggressiveness was obvious playing for Oklahoma St. where last season, averaging just under 33 MPG, Smart tallied 18 PTS, 5.9 REB, 4.8 AST, 1.58 3PM, 2.87 STL, and even managed a little over 0.50 BLK per game.

#36 Oklahoma St. star and Celtic lottery pick Marcus Smart has the recipe for a huge sleeper season should the Rajon Rondo rumors of a trade come to fruiyion. Photo: Fernando Medina/Getty Images

#36 Oklahoma St. star and Celtic lottery pick Marcus Smart has the recipe to be a huge sleeper season should the rumors surrounding the possible trading of Rajon Rondo come to fruition. Photo: Fernando Medina/Getty Images

3. Larry Sanders-Foward/Center-Bucks- Sanders, often misused under last year’s head coach Larry Drew, will have an ideal opportunity to exell under new coach and avid big-time fan of Sanders, Jason Kidd. Kidd if you’ll remember, tried his best to secure Sanders’ services last year when he was with the Nets, so you can be sure that the 6′ 11″ center will have the chance to become a top-5 roto center this season. We are projecting that Sanders will put up 10 PTS, 10 REB, and around 2.90 BLK per game.

4. Markieff Morris-Forward/Center-Suns- The 25 year old has seen his minutes rise every year over his three years in the league and this season will be no different due to the departure of Channing Frye. Already having had a mini-breakout season last year, this sixth-man-of-the-year candidate last season, could help your team in five categories. Our projections of 16 PTS, 7 REB, 1 STL, .472 FG%, & .790 FT%  are all completely attainable making Morris a top roto option.

#11 Markieff Morris climbes over Blake Griffith for the basket. The Furnace says that Morris' minutes will be increased with the absence of Channing Frye, making the 25 yr. old a sleeper Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images.

#11 Markieff Morris, shown here, climbs over Blake Griffith for the stuff. The Furnace says that Morris’ minutes will be increased with the absence of Channing Frye, making the 25 yr. old a sleeper candidate this season. Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images.

 

5. Jose Calderon-Point Guard-Knicks- It has been a while since New York has had a true all around point guard and they now have a very talented one in Jose Calderon. He had to share the ball all too often with Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis with the Mavericks last year, but will be afforded more minutes and have more success in the Knicks’ triangle offense. Calderon’s assists dropped off from almost 9 per game while in Toronto to 4.7 last season with the Mavs so his potential for amassing dimes is well known. An excellent FT shooter (.852% for his career),  Calderon, who will see his touches increased, is projected to heave up over two 3 pointers and 1 steal per game.

6.Gorgui Dieng-Center-Timberwolves- At some point in his career, the multi-talented Dieng will become a top 10 roto center in this league. Minnesota still has Nikola Pekovic but any injury or fall-off in production would foster a move towards inserting Dieng who, in fifteen starts last year, averaged 12.2PPG, 12.0 RPG, to go along with 1.7 BPG. There is no question that Dieng is destined to becoming one of the best defensive big men in the NBA. If you are in a deep enough league, preferably with two starting centers, Dieng is well worth a stash as he is just too good for the Timberwolves to keep off the court.

#5 Gorgui Dieng blocks Nets' Tyshawn Taylor from making an easy layup. Dieng could see extended playing time as Nikola Pekovic has had ankle issues in the past says the Furnace. Photo: AP

#5 Gorgui Dieng blocks Nets’ Tyshawn Taylor from making an easy layup. Dieng could see extended playing time as Nikola Pekovic has had ankle issues in the past says the Furnace. Photo: AP

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Some things to expect in the NBA in the 2nd Half…

Posted by fantasyfurnace on February 27, 2012
Posted in: NBA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

Here are some key players, teams, and dates of interest to look for in the second half of the season…

PLAYERS:

1) Dirk Nowitzki- Based just on the way Dirk has played lately, you wouldn’t think he had a pedestrian month in January but for Nowitzki, 15.1 points a game IS pedestrian. In February however, that average has soared to a more Nowitzki-esque 23.9 points a game. Over his last 11 games he has scored 20 or more points in 10 of them. The Mavs will need him to continue his momentum if they are going to be a contending team as expected, come playoff time.

Dirk Nowitzki has been heating it up lately! Photo:allaboutsportnew.blogspot.com

2) Kobe Bryant-This isn’t the same Kobe that we’re all used to seeing year in and year out.  His 43.5% field goal average is his lowest in seven years! His 3-point percentage, 28.5%, is his worst in ten years. Throw in the fact that he’s averaging the second most turnovers in his career and you wonder how, at the break, he’s still averaging 28.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game, which are better numbers than his 25.3/5.1/4.7 at the end of last year. Just amazing! But he’ll need the support of some of the other Lakers to pick it up in the 2nd half if Kobe expects to go deep into the playoffs.

Kobe Bryant who played in his 14th NBA All-Star game on Sunday, will hope he gets some support in the second half. Photo: theurbandaily.com

3) Jeremy Lin- What is there to say about this rising star that hasn’t already been written, re-written, and rehashed a dozen times? Just this; if he is going to take the Knicks up a notch in class over the 2nd half, and continue to build on his 9-2 record as the Knicks starting point guard, then he will need to protect the basketball more and bring down his turnovers. You don’t mind someone that plays for the kind of minutes Lin does and who handles the ball as frequently as he does to have 3-4 turnovers a game. In fact you almost expect that from a PG. But for Lin to make as many as 8-9 TO’s in some games, simply is not acceptable. Hopefully, that’s what his coaches are working with him on during this break because as Lin goes… so do the Knicks.

Jeremy Lin and LeBron James will meet again in N.Y. on April 15, 2012. Photo: sbnation.com

TEAMS:

1) Boston Celtics- This is a team that struggled to get to the end of the first half of the season as ‘Father Time’ has predictably descended over their core players; Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. They have lost 7 0f their last 10 games and the last five in a row coming into the break. They are 1/2 game behind the Knicks in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and will need to right their ship, ward off injuries, and get some help from their bench, if they intend to return to the playoffs again this year.

2) Minnesota Timberwolves- Who would have thought going into the season that the Timberwolves (17-17) would have a better record than the Celtics (15-17) going into the break? Thanks to the sterling play of the rookie Ricky Rubio (say that 3 times fast..), and the continued MVP-like numbers that Kevin Love has put up, and you have a team that’s on the rise. They’ll need to improve on their wins at home though if they want to make a push in the standings; (they’re currently 1 game out of the eighth slot in the Western Conference in 10th). A 10-10 home record won’t be good enough if they want to compete with a Portland (13-5 at home) or Memphis (13-5 at home).

DATES TO REMEMBER:

1) April 4, 2012- This is the day that the Clippers meet the Lakers in their second game of the season. The Clippers bested the Lakers 102-94 back on January 14th, and the Lakers are sure to want to seek revenge in this one. Currently, the (20-14) Lakers are just 1.5 games behind the (20-11) Clippers so the April 4th match up (technically a Clippers home game), will loom large for both teams as the season will be winding down by then.

These two teams will meet agin on April 4, 2012. Photo: inflexwetrust.com

2) April 15th, 2012- This is the date of the rematch of the February 10th Knicks loss at Miami 92-85. It was in that game that Jeremy Lin found himself ‘domLinated’ by a relentless Miami defense that exposed him and some of his flaws under pressure. Tied for the best record in the NBA with Oklahoma City at 27-7, Miami will travel to Madison Square Garden to face the (17-18) Knicks in what should be as exciting a game as their last meeting. The Knicks will have had six more weeks of playing together as a tandem by then, and with the team at full strength now, they’ll hope to even up the season series. With less than 2 weeks to go in the regular season at that point, the game could also have playoff implications for the Knicks.

The showdown at the Garden will take place on April 15, 2012. Photo: inflexwetrust.com

5 questions now that the NBA Lockout is over

Posted by fantasyfurnace on November 28, 2011
Posted in: NBA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Finally, there will be basketball!!!

As it has been well documented, the NBA and the Players Association have reached a tentative agreement to end the five-month old lockout and start the league’s 2011-12 season on Dec. 25. Commissioner David Stern said, “There’s still some tweaking…that needs to be done”, but pending ratification, and barring any unforeseen major event, the season will start on Sunday, December 25th with the Boston Celtics at the New York Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas in an NBA Finals rematch before MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago close the triple-header against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

We would like to pose five questions before the first tip-off at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day and see the kind of responses it brings:

NBA triple-header scheduled for Christmas Day.

1. Will LeBron, Dwayne, and Chris finally get to enjoy their first championship together?

2. Will a shortened season prove beneficial to aging teams such as the Celtics and the Lakers?

3. Will Dwight Howard be staying in Orlando?

4. Will the Mavericks repeat or retreat?

5. Are the Knicks serious contenders or just a bunch of talented pretenders?

What do you think? Feel free to comment below or email fantasyfurnace@yahoo.com