Around The League: Fantasy Basketball News and Notes From 10/27

The rookies stole the show last night with some impressive debut performances.

We also have all your injury news and plenty of game notes from a big night of action in this edition of Around the League.

News

• Gilbert Arenas apparently showed up to practice in a boot yesterday and is definitely out for at least two more games, if not more. He’s headed to the doctor soon to get more details on the extent of the injury.
• Mo Williams was left out of the lineup last night because of a groin injury. Rumors are he is not in good favor with new head coach Byron Scott, though, and it could affect his playing time. It doesn’t help his case that the Cavs beat the Celtics without him and Ramon Sessions and Daniel Gibson looked good doing it.
• Things may be getting worse for the Grizzlies frontcourt. Marc Gasol missed the opener and is day-to-day. And during the opener Zach Randolph took a hard foul and came down on his back. He tried to come back, but was unable to stay in the game. More information on that injury as I get it.
• There is a chance Leandro Barbosa will have to have wrist surgery at some point. He is having issues on the wrist he had a cyst removed from last year. Right now he is playing through it, and did so pretty well last night.
• Tracy McGrady will be limited to 15 minutes a game until he gets in to the flow of playing again. Even with more minutes I’m not sure he should be owned in any league but the deepest ones. At least not until he proves there is still a little of the old T-Mac left in him.
• Anthony Randolph is on crutches, but according to Randolph the most he’ll be out is a week. I am a little bit more skeptical myself though considering this is the same ankle that kept him out for 47 games last year. This isn’t as serious as that was, but it still raises a red flag until we see him back on the court at 100 percent.

Game Notes

• Roy Hibbert was a favorite sleeper of a lot of people going into this season and he showed why last night. The big man from Georgetown scored 28 points, nabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots, albeit in a losing effort. Hibbert may very well come into his own this season.
• So far, in two games, Ray Allen has shown why people were groaned as they called his name on draft day. He had a great night shooting from the field against Miami, but he couldn’t find his shot last night, going 0-5 from distance. There is no doubt he can shoot the ball, but he is becoming more and more prone to cold spells.
• Jason Kapono may have gotten the start, but Evan Turner showed that he has the skills to be relevant in fantasy right away. Turner put up 16 points with seven rebounds and four assists in his rookie debut. He logged over 30 minutes and that should continue.
• Jrue Holiday, on the other hand, did not look as good for the 76ers. Holiday only played 21 minutes, but was 2–9 from the field and had five turnovers. His backup Lou Williams, on the other hand, scored 15 points and had seven assists in 34 minutes. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out going forward, but one thing we know about Doug Collins, he doesn’t have a ton of patience.
• The box score for the Toronto Raptors raised some eyebrows. Jarrett Jack and Reggie Evans ended up starting over Jose Calderon and Amir Johnson. Not only that, but Calderon only saw 18 minutes of action and Johnson saw even less, with 13 minutes. This is a situation to monitor closely if you own those guys.
• It was a solid rookie showing for Demarcus Cousins as well last night getting 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 27 minutes. He did get five fouls, though, which is a problem that plagued him all preseason as well.
• Wesley Johnson was thought to be the starter in Minnesota, but a lingering hamstring injury had him coming off the bench in the opener. That will only last for so long though. The T’Wolves were +14 with Johnson on the court and he should see his minutes increase a little more each game.
• Al Horford only played 18 minutes and scored two points with seven rebounds. I didn’t see the game so I don’t know if there is an injury involved, or just ineffectiveness. Zaza Pauchulia came up big though with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Horford’s stead.
• I had my concerns about Monta Elllis being able to score as much in a non-Don Nelson offense, but so far so good. Ellis netted 46 points on 18–24 shooting from the field and 9–12 from the line as it’s obvious he is still the fastest guy on the court. Also nice to see that there were still plenty of shots left for Stephen Curry who scored 25 points and had 11 assists, though he did turn it over five times.
• Luis Scola is playing at a different level so far this year than we have seen from him in the past. Intwo games he has 54 points and 32 rebounds. He benefited from playing the Warriors which allows for more offensive opportunities, but still, Scola may end up as one of the year’s big steals.
• Blake Griffin kept the rookie train rolling last night collecting 14 rebounds and adding 20 points and four assists. 14 rebounds is pretty impressive against bigs like Aldridge and Camby, and even more impressive is nine offensive rebounds. If Griffin can hit the offensive boards he is certainly going to put up some points this year thanks to second chance opportunities.

What are your thoughts so far on the early fantasy basketball season?