The 12th installment of the fantasy buzz is here! For those who don't know: While I will attempt to make recommendations based on all types of fantasy leagues, I will only be speaking to what is known as "advanced scoring" when it comes to actual fantasy production as I find standard scoring and 9 Category leagues to be boring. That being said, let's dive into the performances of our squad this past week, break down my predictions from last week and look ahead to the next week of games!
The Cats played 4 games this past week: the Pistons on Tuesday, the Pistons again on Wednesday, the Pelicans on Friday and the Grizzlies on Saturday Some players have dropped out of the rotation and/or are having very minimal fantasy impact and so I will leave them out of the discussion. Here's how our boys performed:
Kemba Walker: averaged 45 fantasy points across those 4 games with his best night coming from a monster 66 point performance at home against the Pistons. Last week I assured you that he would put up nice numbers in all 4 games and he certainly did not disappoint me. Kemba's foot is on the gas and his solid play is the main contributing factor to the team's current 4-game winning streak.
Gerald Henderson: averaged only 16 fantasy points as his consistency continues to drop off of the face of the Earth. Last week I only recommended him as a starter in Tuesday's game against the Pistons and although Hendo has made a habit of making my predictions look bad this season he came through for me on that one as it was his best game of the week. His fantasy friendly game has all but evaporated and it will be interesting to see if Neal or Ridnour begin to eat into his minutes.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: averaged 19 points in those 4 games, with his best performance coming in a 24 point effort against the Pelicans. I avoided recommending him as a starter last week and don't feel guilty about it at all. MKG is another candidate to lose some minutes with the recent additions of Neal and Ridnour as Coach Clifford may look to utilize smaller lineups to get those two on the court.
Josh McRoberts: averaged 27 fantasy points across those 4 games with two surprisingly monster nights against Detroit (39 and 35 points). Last week I recommended sitting him in all 4 games and while I was right to do so for the Pelicans and Grizzlies, McBob managed to torch the Pistons on back to back nights. McBob will continue to be a featured piece of the offense with the team failing to trade for a better big man option before the trade deadline.
Al Jefferson: averaged 43 fantasy points across those 4 games which is made even more impressive considering he only put up 12 against the Grizzlies! Big Al went into full on beast mode in the other 3 games and is one of only a hand full of players in the league to be averaging a double-double this year. Any owner who drafted him is surely grinning from ear to ear as he just continues to produce at a high level.
Ramon Sessions: averaged 27 fantasy points in the 2 games against Detroit but he was then traded to the Bucks in the deal for Neal and Ridnour. I recommended him as a decent plug and play option in all 4 games last week and he came through for me in his last two games as a Bobcat. He will be missed, both as Bobcats player and as a fantasy asset.
Looking ahead, the Bobcats are about to start a brutal 4 game road trip that sees them take on 4 of the top teams in the league on their home courts. They only have three games this week: The Spurs on Friday, the Thunder on Sunday and the Heat on Monday. Here are some recommendations of who to get in your lineup:
1. Kemba Walker: I'm pretty much going to recommend starting Kemba every week. If you have another PG that is worthy of starting over Kemba you are most likely fielding trade offers left and right! Both the Spurs and the Thunder are weak against opposing PGs and Kemba has made a habit of showing off against the Heat so be sure to roll him out there for all 3 games unless you are fortunate enough to have a better option!
2. Gerald Henderson: It is absolutely impossible for me to recommend Hendo at all this week. His inconsistent play combined with having to face the wing players of the Spurs, Thunder and Heat make him a black hole for fantasy production. Stay away unless you are truly desperate for a starter.
3. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: Allow me to copy and paste from Gerald Henderson's blurb: It is absolutely impossible for me to recommend MKG at all this week. His inconsistent play combined with having to face the wing players of the Spurs, Thunder and Heat make him a black hole for fantasy production. Stay away unless you are truly desperate for a starter.
4. Josh McRoberts: While he does face 3 tough matchups I still have to recommend McBob for all 3 games this week. The wing players for the Cats will be so busy chasing some of the top players in the league that the scoring production will have to come from down low and McBob will get his fair share of opportunities. Of course, if you have a better option, feel free to sit him, but I expect to see some solid numbers from him in all 3 games.
5. Al Jefferson: Yet another direct copy and paste from last week: Jefferson has been on fire and there's no reason to think that's going to stop anytime soon. If you have a better option at center then you are truly the envy of everyone in your league as there is just no reason to sit Jefferson on any given night. Continue to roll him out there and hope that he continues this past week's dominance.
6. The rest: It is impossible to make any recommendations on the rest of the squad until we see how the playing time is going to be divided between the newly acquired players and the role and bench players left over from the trade deadline. Neal, Ridnour, Zeller and Douglas-Roberts could all become sneaky sources of fantasy production, but until we see how Coach Clifford is going to utilize that group it's better to take a wait and see approach.
That's all for this week! I will be back next week to review the fantasy performances of our players, point out where my predictions went wrong and/or right and recommend some players for the next week's games. Until then, good luck, have fun and GO BOBCATS!
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