I know a lot of people are sick of deflate-gate, and for good reason. First of all, putting “gate” at the end of every scandal is just lazy reporting. Our media should be better than that. Secondly, deflated ball jokes were old the day after the AFC Championship game, and they have only gotten worse. Even so, I think the Patriots’ latest bout of cheating is the greatest thing to happen to the run-up to the Super Bowl in years.
Let me first say the two weeks before the Super Bowl are the worst of the entire sporting year. Putting the NHL All-Star break right in the middle of it makes it even worse. I hate the endless talk of the Super Bowl matchups and the legacies of everyone involved. By the time the game actually rolls around I am completely sick of hearing about it. That has not been the case this season.
The game has been an afterthought to this point, lost in talk of PSI and Marshawn Lynch’s limited vocabulary. That will probably change over the weekend, which is fine. I can handle 72 consecutive hours of talking heads breaking down every single aspect of the game. It is the usual two weeks of buildup I have an issue with. With that in mind, let us skip the buildup and get right to our weekly fantasy basketball schedule breakdown for the week of February 2 to February 9.
Andrew Bogut, Golden State Warriors (Road vs. Kings, Home vs. Mavericks, Road vs. Hawks, Road vs. Knicks, Road vs. 76ers) Golden State is nearly unbeatable at home, and I am reticent to recommend any Warriors with such a road-heavy schedule. The good news is all of the numbers suggest home-court is not nearly the advantage it was several years ago. Even more importantly, Bogut has some great matchups. No team has been blocked more often than the Kings, with the 76ers right on their heels. The Kings, Mavericks, Knicks and 76ers are all in the top 10 in opponent’s points per game while the 76ers and Mavs are in the top three in opponent’s rebounds per game. Marreese Speights, Draymond Green and David Lee could take advantage of that schedule as well.
Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics (Road vs. Knicks, Home vs. Nuggets, Home vs. 76ers, Road vs. Bucks) Smart is the perfect pickup for a fantasy player who needs assists and made 3-pointers and can afford to take a hit in points and field goal percentage. The schedule sets up nicely as the Knicks and 76ers allow more than 8.5 made threes to opponents per game while the Bucks and Nuggets are in the middle of the pack. Those teams and the Knicks are pretty average in opponent’s assists per game as well, but the 76ers are a fantastic matchup.
Jusuf Nurkic, Denver Nuggets (Road vs. 76ers, Road vs. Celtics, Road vs. Pistons, Home vs. Thunder) I really did not plan on picking three players who all play Philadelphia, but that is just the way the schedule worked out. Nurkic is basically a poor-man’s Andrew Bogut, averaging 8.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in January. The Pistons and Celtics have allowed nearly as many opposing rebounds and blocks as the 76ers this season.
Al-Farouq Aminu, Dallas Mavericks (Home vs. Timberwolves, Road vs. Warriors, Road vs. Kings, Home vs. Trail Blazers, Home vs. Clippers) This is going a bit deeper as I usually like to, but Aminu appears to have played his way into the Dallas rotation. He is averaging 1.0 steals and 1.6 blocks per game over the last two weeks and the Warriors, Kings and Timberwolves are third, fourth and eighth in opponent’s steals.
Courtney Lee, Memphis Grizzlies (Road vs. Suns, Road vs. Jazz, Road vs. Timberwolves, Home vs. Hawks) My other picks largely ignored scoring, but that is not the case with Courtney Lee. He is averaging 11.8 ppg over his last 10 games, most of those with Jeff Green in the lineup. The Timberwolves and Suns have allowed the most and third-most opponent’s points in the league this season while the Jazz own the fourth-worst defensive rating. The Hawks are better defensively than those teams, but they are quite susceptible to the 3-pointer, which bodes well for Lee.
There is one part of Super Bowl week that is less-than-ideal, and that is Sunday’s NBA schedule. I would love to avoid much of the 12 hours of pregame shows on Super Bowl Sunday with some NBA games, but Sunday’s NBA schedule is tough to stomach. The headliner is probably a banged-up Miami team against Marcus Smart and whoever is left on the Celtics. Maybe if Carmelo Anthony actually plays against the Lakers that game will be interesting, but I doubt it. Who knows, though? Maybe another scandal will break out between now and then. One can only hope.