fBasketballBlog

This pretty much tells the tale. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Beast of the Night: LeBron James posted 31 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, four steals, three blocks and two three-pointers last night against the Lakers. He shot 44 percent (12-27) from the field, 71 percent (5-7) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. Maybe it wasn’t as momentous as MJ’s “flu game,” but this was a huge line from a guy who was questionable with the flu-like symptoms until about an hour before the start of the game. LeBron has hit nine three-pointers in his last three games, which is noteworthy because he hit zero threes in the 10 games before that. He remains the unquestioned king of fantasy basketball.

Lines for Discussion:
Kobe Bryant: 8-21 FG (38%), 5-5 FT (100%), 24 Pts, 3 threes, 5 Reb, 7 Ast, 3 Stl, 2 TO; he’s shooting a combined 15-of-43 (35 percent) from the floor in his last two games

Pau Gasol: 11-19 FG (58%), 3-3 FT (100%), 1 three, 26 Pts, 8 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk, 1 TO; he has top 20 value so far in the 2011-12 NBA season, but that’s disappointing for a guy who was drafted in the top 10 of most leagues

Al Jefferson: 8-18 FG (44%), 6-8 FT (75%), 22 Pts, 9 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl; Jefferson is putting up top 15 averages and is keeping in tip-top shape (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…)

With Bynum's suspension, Kobe's wrist and an early back-to-back-to-back set, Gasol will be a workhorse in Week 1. Maybe pats on the head instead of punches to the chest will help, too. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

The 2011-12 NBA schedule is peculiar, for various reasons. For one thing, not only will each team play 66 games (in the NBA’s 66th season, no less), but every team is slated to play at least one back-to-back-to-back set – that’s three games in three consecutive nights – at least once during the season. This obviously has implications for older teams/players, guys playing through injuries, etc. Here are a few quick observations:

• The Lakers will be first to experience a back-to-back-to-back set, right from the Christmas Day start of the season. Given Andrew Bynum’s five-game suspension and Kobe Bryant’s bum shooting wrist, expect Pau Gasol to be heavily leaned on in the first week.
• The Boston Celtics (Week 16), Cleveland Cavaliers (Week 16), Detroit Pistons (Week 17), Golden State Warriors (Week 17), Memphis Grizzlies (Week 15), Philadelphia 76ers (Week 17), San Antonio Spurs (Week 17) and Washington Wizards (Week 15) all have a back-to-back-to-back set during what could be your league’s fantasy playoffs. While this might seem like a windfall for the fantasy-relevant players on these squads, it’s more nuanced than that (injuries, veteran players in need of rest and playoff standings).
• Having a back-to-back-to-back set doesn’t guarantee that the team will have five games that week (e.g., Minnesota Timberwolves in Week 10).
• Some of these three-in-three sets start in one week and end in the next.
• The New Orleans Hornets are the only team to have a back-to-back-to-back set in the shortened week before All-Star Weekend (Week 9), but they’re not the only team to have three games that week.
• Twelve teams have two back-to-back-to-back sets; the remaining 18 have just one.

Here’s a look at when each NBA team has three-in-three sets this season: (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?

Gasol is ready for...something... (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Depth chart:
PG: Derek Fisher, Steve Blake, Andrew Goudelock
SG: Kobe Bryant, Shannon Brown*, Darius Morris, Trey Johnson
SF: Metta World Peace, Matt Barnes, Luke Walton, Devin Ebanks
PF: Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derrick Caracter, Joe Smith*, Ater Majok
C: Andrew Bynum, Theo Ratliff*

* unrestricted free agent (continue reading…)