Oden is rounding into form lately. (NBAE via Getty Images/Sam Forencich)
Game watch:
4 games: CHI, DAL, GS, IND, MIA, MIL, NY, PHO, TOR, WAS
3 games: ATL, BOS, CHA, CLE, DEN, DET, HOU, LAL, MEM, MIN, NJ, PHI, SAC, UTA
2 games: LAC, NO, OKC, ORL, POR, SA
Waiver wire watch:
- Allen Iverson: possibility of returning to Philly too good to ignore
- Jrue Holiday: if A.I. doesn’t work, he’ll get plenty of minutes
- Mike Dunleavy: finally back, will steadily return to form
- Tim Thomas: surprisingly strong return, good for threes and inconsistency
- Chris Andersen: slow start but doing well lately
- Martell Webster: starting job and minutes will be there while Travis Outlaw is out
- Omri Casspi: good for points, threes and steals
- Jamaal Tinsley: could eventually overtake Mike Conley
- Nick Young: thriving with Mike Miller sidelined and Caron Butler not 100 percent
- Thabo Sefolosha: still starting, putting up good all-around numbers
- Luke Ridnour: putting up sporadicly nice lines, deserves a look
Injury watch:
- Michael Redd (knee): out again for more recovery
- Elton Brand (hamstring): could be back tonight
- Lou Williams (jaw): out for about two months
- Kirk Hinrich (wrist): day-to-day
- Erick Dampier (illness): could return to practice this week
- Ben Gordon (ankle): could play tonight, will return soon enough
- Andrew Bogut (leg): making good progress, still out about two to three more weeks
- Spencer Hawes (knee): could return tonight, will be back soon
- Manu Ginobili (groin): could play tonight
- Paul Millsap (knee): won’t miss much time
- Andrei Kirilenko (back): will miss up to a week
- Kevin Love (hand): practicing, on track to return on Dec. 11
Stock watch:
↑ Greg Oden: foul trouble only hurdle to consistency
↑ Carlos Boozer: continues to play like a beast
↑ Leandro Barbosa: wrist still a concern, steady lately
↑ Ersan Ilyasova: should be great while Redd and Bogut are out
↑ Mo Williams: three-point monster
↓ Roy Hibbert: who knew Jeff Foster would kill his value?
↓ Matt Bonner: Antonio McDyess now starting at center, taking most of the minutes
↓ Danilo Gallinari: continues to decline into irrelevance
↓ Larry Hughes: minutes will be unpredictable going forward
↓ Mike Conley: disappointing
[...] adjusting to Troy Murphy’s return. That was expected. What wasn’t expected was that Jeff Foster and Tyler Hansbrough would be getting more run than the second-year big man in that suddenly-crowded frontcourt. I know I’ve said this a [...]
Not sure how to ask this without listing my whole team, but would you rather have Courtney Lee or Delonte West than any of the following?
PG – C. Paul
SG – A. Iguodala
G – D. Williams
SF – J. Green
PF – J. Thompson
F – A. Horford
C – A. Harrington
U – W. Chandler, M. Chalmers
B – A. Iverson, T. McGrady, M. Dunleavy, U. Haslem, J. Tinsley, S. Hawes
… it hurt me, but I dropped Hickson because he hasn’t been productive since Shaq returned, and doesn’t give other categories all that much. I also dropped Courtney Lee for Tinsley because he wasn’t getting minutes, then Lee got a ton of minutes last night. Safe to say, I’m perplexed.
@generic: I’d steer clear of West, but Lee might be worth swapping out for Tinsley, Chalmers or T-Mac. I think those four are about on the same level of desirability right now.