fBasketballBlog

Gasol isn't quite a top three stud this season, but he's up there. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)

Beast of the Night: Marc Gasol finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals last night against the Clippers. He shot 42 percent (5-12) from the field, 100 percent (8-8) from the free-throw line and had zero turnovers. Gasol gets some much-deserved attention here, since he’s been steadily putting up top 10 numbers so far this season. His stats will inevitably decline when Zach Randolph returns, but Gasol was still putting up top 10 numbers when Randolph was in the lineup.

Lines for Discussion:
Paul Pierce: 7-18 FG (39%), 8-11 FT (73%), 2 threes, 24 Pts, 6 Reb, 10 Ast, 1 Blk, 5 TO; since Rajon Rondo went down with that wrist injury four games ago, Pierce has averaged 8.3 assists per game

Kevin Garnett: 6-14 FG (43%), 12 Pts, 10 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 4 Blk, 3 TO; in his last two games, KG has racked up eight steals and six blocks

Blake Griffin: 8-14 FG (57%), 4-8 FT (50%), 20 Pts, 9 Reb, 8 Ast, 2 Blk, 3 TO; to be blunt, Griffin has been a bit of a disappointment this season, as most of his averages are down from last season (continue reading…)

JJ is finally deciding to play at a level closer to what his contract would seem to demand. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Beast of the Night: Joe Johnson posted 27 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals, three blocks and three three-pointers last night. He shot 45 percent (9-20) from the field, 86 percent (6-7) from the free-throw line and turned the ball over once. Johnson has really turned things up a notch lately and is putting up top 40 numbers so far this season, a notable improvement from last year’s disappointing averages. There’s not much reason to think he can’t keep this up.

Lines for Discussion:
Mike Conley: 9-13 FG (69%), 1-1 FT (100%), 1 three, 20 Pts, 7 Reb, 8 Ast, 4 Stl, 5 TO; he’s shooting 92 percent from the charity stripe and is stealing 2.5 balls per game, which helps his top 30 value so far in 2011-12

Ryan Anderson: 11-19 FG (58%), 1-1 FT (100%), 7 threes, 30 Pts, 7 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 TO; he leads the league with 3.6 threes made per game and maintains top 10 value

Kemba Walker: 6-21 FG (29%), 1-2 FT (50%), 1 three, 14 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 4 Stl, 2 Blk, 2 TO; the Bobcats need all the scoring help they can get, so Walker should continue to have the green light to launch shots (continue reading…)

Rose is back in beast mode. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Weekend Wonder: Derrick Rose averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 1.5 steals, a block and 1.5 threes in two games over the weekend. He shot 50 percent from the field, 95 percent from the free-throw line and turned the ball over three times per game. These averages include his somewhat mediocre line from Sunday in a 40-point blowout victory over the Grizzlies. After a rocky start, Rose is calming the nerves of his insecure owners.

Lines for Discussion:
Ricky Rubio (12/30): 4-7 FG (57%), 2-3 FT (67%), 2 threes, 12 Pts, 6 Reb, 12 Ast, 1 Stl, 5 TO; he’s worth starting for now

Carlos Delfino (12/30): 6-11 FG (55%), 3 threes, 15 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl; he’s finally back and will be a solid source of threes

Spencer Hawes (12/30): 7-9 FG (78%), 1-1 FT (100%), 15 Pts, 13 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk, 3 TO; I’m almost a believer (continue reading…)

Yep, this will be fun. (Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images)

The 2011-12 NBA season is finally within reach, ready to be ripped open by the childishly eager fingers of ravenous fans. For fantasy basketball owners, the joy comes with a bit of business. Once they cut through the excitement of seeing the first tip-off of the season, they’ll immediately wonder how their draft picks will pay off, what clues they can pick up in the early going and which players sitting in the free-agent pool might be worth a pickup.

While making heavy-handed conclusions after just the first day of games isn’t recommended, it doesn’t hurt to have a list of things to watch and hope for during the first official day of this unique NBA season. Below is a Christmas Day wish list for fantasy basketball owners who have players participating in the first day’s games. (continue reading…)

Youngsters might not remember, but back in Minnesota, KG was one B.A.M.F. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Reddit is a wonderful thing. Reddit’s r/NBA subreddit just makes it even wonderfuller.

User Browsing_From_Work recently posted a spreadsheet including all NBA player stats from 2004-2011, scraped from NBA.com. Go have fun with it. (The best way to play with the data is to go to “File” –> “Download as” –> “Excel,” then sort and fiddle to your heart’s content.)

Using that data, here are the 10 most efficient individual player seasons from 2004-2011:

1. LeBron James, 2009-10 (CLE): 32.42
2. Kevin Garnett, 2004-05 (MIN): 31.96
3. LeBron James, 2008-09 (CLE): 30.88
4. Chris Paul, 2008-09 (NOH): 30.46
5. LeBron James, 2007-08 (CLE): 30.33
6. LeBron James, 2005-06 (CLE): 29.42
7. Dwyane Wade, 2008-09 (MIA): 29.29
8. Kevin Garnett, 2006-07 (MIN): 29.17
9. Shawn Marion, 2005-06 (PHX): 28.85

Here are the 10 most efficient players in 2010-11:

1. LeBron James (MIA): 28.58
2. Kevin Love (MIN): 28.37
3. Dwight Howard (ORL): 28.31
4. Blake Griffin (LAC): 25.63
5. Pau Gasol (LAL): 25.40
6. Kevin Durant (OKC): 24.95
7. Dwyane Wade (MIA): 24.78
8. Amar’e Stoudemire (NYK): 24.59
9. Zach Randolph (MEM): 24.43
10. Dirk Nowitzki (DAL): 23.49

Do you notice any big names missing from these lists? What other interesting tidbits do you find in this data?