Sports

Fantasy Fix: Guns, Glory

By Dan O'Shea

The news that Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton allegedly drew guns on each other in the locker room - in a dispute over a gambling debt - is just one more thing that makes you shake your head about the NBA. I am at the point where a young man's fascination with the athleticism and grace of basketball has evolved into a somewhat older man's obsession only with numbers. I know - most of you reached that point a long time ago.

It's Week 11 of the fantasy basketball season, and here's a look at a few players we'll presume to be unarmed unless told otherwise.

Fantasy Find of the Week: Luther Head, PG/SG, Indiana. The former Illini star was only 15 percent owned as of this week. He has been getting a lot of playing time with injuries in the Pacer lineup, averaging almost 20 points per game in the last week.

Fantasy Stud of the Week: Stephen Jackson, SG/SF/PF, Charlotte. I knocked his inconsistency earlier this year as he was traded out of Golden State, but in the last week he's averaged 29 points per game and 3.0 three-pointers per game last week.

Fantasy Failure of the Week: Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Dallas. He's been having a great year, but last week he had a .375 field goal percentage over three games, including a 3-for-12, 11-point effort.

Fantasy Match-Up of the Week: Derrick Rose, PG, Chicago. He has been making clear steps toward taking over more games, averaging 24.8 points per game last week, and I like him to run wild against Milwaukee and Minnesota this week.

Expert Wire
* Bleacher Report names Ty Lawson, Omri Casspi and Rasual Butler, among others, as hot waiver wire pick-ups this week. Casspi may already be the best Israeli NBA player in history - all he really had to do was show up.

* SLAM Online zeroes in on Gilbert "Agent Zero" Arenas, who was quietly having a productive and (rare) injury-free season that brought to mind his early days as a top 10 pick before he started packing heat. Now, suspension is sure to hurt his value.

* CBS Sports.com delivers its weekly fantasy basketball planner, noting a busy week for players from Chicago, New York and New Jersey, among others. That's more good news for Tyrus Thomas owners.

* Matt Buser writes a column practically every other day for Yahoo!'s Roto Arcade, so I'll choose one highlight, this post on the return of Nate Robinson. He was a fantasy fiend last year, and had all but disappeared this year until a 41-point outing last week.

* Besides Luther Head, another Pacer who has delivered of late is big Roy Hibbert, C. Rotoworld reports he had a career-best 26 points in a huge upset of Orlando on Tuesday. Hibbert is getting more playing time with Troy Murphy injured. Murphy returns soon, but he's injury prone, so having Hibbert in your back pocket isn't a bad idea - not that he would fit in anyone's back pocket.

* ESPN reports that Rafer Alston, PG, had his contract bought out by New Jersey, and was set to sign with Miami. Alston is 33, but can give you 10 points and five assists on good nights, and is likely to get a lot of floor time feeding Dwayne Wade. He's one of those "no guts, no glory" types of players.

Maybe Gilbert and Javaris misunderstood the phrase as a "no guns, no glory."

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Dan O'Shea's Fantasy Fix appears in this space every Wednesday. Comments welcome. You can also read his about his split sports fan personality at SwingsBothWays, which isn't about what it sounds like it's about.

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