By Vidur Malik

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Caron Butler – The most talked-about free agent acquisition for the Clippers has been Chris Paul, but Butler has been a solid scorer for his new team. He’s averaging 16.1 points per game and has scored 20 points in his past three games. In addition to his scoring, Butler also adds a few rebounds a game and can contribute some steals, so pick him up if he’s available and you’re looking for a starter or key contributor.

Klay Thompson – The Warriors rookie is a great shooter who can get hot, as he did in Golden State’s loss to Orlando on Thursday. He scored 14 points and went 4-of-5 from behind the arc during that game. He’s scored in double digits a total of three times this season, so he’s been erratic, but he doesn’t need many shots or minutes to score points. He’s not a well-rounded player yet, but he can give you two to three rebounds and assists per game in addition to his shooting.

Steve Blake – Blake does have some ugly three-point shooting nights (0-5 against Denver on Dec. 31 and 0-5 against Portland on Jan. 5) but when he’s feeling it, he can drain several threes a game. If you need a shooter, consider him.

Nicolas Batum – His name is a familiar one around NBA circles, but from a fantasy perspective, Batum’s value might not be appreciated as much as it should. He’s a solid role player, averaging 10.6 points and 4.5 rebounds this season. He hasn’t exceeded 15 points in a game so far this season, but he can get you double-digit points a game and a good amount of rebounds, so if you’re looking for an all-around guy and better known players like Lamar Odom and Gerald Wallace are already on teams, pick up Batum.

Vince Carter – Gone are the days when Carter’s claim to fame were his gravity-defying dunks. He’s been criticized for a lack of production the past few seasons, but he’s been a good role player for the Mavericks so far this season. He’s averaging 8.6 points a game, but he has gotten into double-digits several times and can sprinkle in a few assists and rebounds.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The impact of labor negotiations milling right to the brink of the NFL season figured to cause issues on the field. Poor play and non chemistry amongst teammates were expected. The season though has been a success for the most part. More quarterbacks than ever came close to eclipsing Dan Marino’s mark, and Drew Brees accomplished it.

The NFL showcases it’s dominance as the premier sport in America year in and year out. The NBA, however is coping with a delayed start to their season much differently. Teams are no where they need to be.

The first stretch of games have looked awful, and more like exhibition games. The imbalance of putting together four complete quarters is nightly. Struggles of displaying effort consistently is also there nightly. More and more teams are utilizing rookies, undrafted free agent rookies, and even NBA development league players.

Athletes that were likely training harder during the lockout to prepare for overseas, figuring they needed a true backup plan from the NBA.

Games have been so laughable that during the Atlanta vs. Miami Heat game, Charles Barkley and fellow commentators could not hold back comments aimed at lazy play. Atlanta had to rely on their near 12^th man in Ivan Johnson to provide a spark, while their nucleus of stars hoisted errant shots and played defense as if they were participating in practice drills.

To the annoyance of Charles Barkley, he was disgusted to broadcast play by play in a triple overtime game as such. The game already was missing the Heat stars of Dwayne Wade and Lebron James, but the enthusiasm of role players ready to play was night and day, between the two teams.

As the season continues towards a rushed All-Star break, how will fans cope with the accelerated season with a decline on the court? David Stern has been a solid commissioner for quite some time, but this lockout is going to offset some of the momentum the NBA had gained back from the 1999 lockout.

Many teams just do not have the superstars or talent on them. The superstars we are use to are aging fast. After the top ten to fifteen superstars there is a major drop off. Second units that come onto the court are typically inexperienced, as opposed to tenured veterans that could revive teams.

It’s a mess that can all plagued to front offices, coaching staffs, and players rushed to put together a season.

Revenue was already lost with the late start to the season, it will continue with the decline of the performance the NBA is displaying nightly to it’s fans.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

It’s almost fantasy football playoff time. Has your team been over hyped by yourself like the Eagles were by Vince Young? Do you still believe you can make a run only if you sneak into the playoffs? If you’re going to do it, now is the time. Go out and perform the proper moves to bolster your teams chances.

Quarterbacks:

Tim Tebow-

As bad as Tebow is throwing the football, he is overcoming those horrendous numbers with fantasy numbers with his legs. This past week he ran for ninety yards with a touchdown. Better than most starting running backs. Tack on the minimal points he gets with his arm, and he is like starting a top five running back in the quarterback position. That is until he starts to fumble or throw interceptions.

Alex Smith-

His teams steady play has surged Smith’s confidence week by week. Mistakes have been limited, and he is producing enough. Not jump out the room fantasy numbers, but he will deliver over 200 yards with a touchdown or two. If you’re struggling with a turnover prone starter, maybe you want to look at Smith as an option. Former quarterback and head coach, Jim Harbaugh, coaches to Smith’s strengths and will continue to.

Matt Leinart-

This is the chance Leinart has been waiting for. Will he be ready? He should. The former first round pick, has been in the NFL for many years now. Things did not work out in Arizona obviously, and he has been rather quiet as a backup for Houston. Now in his second year there, he’ll get a chance again to show he can be a starter. He was shaky in the preseason, but has the weapons around him to be able to continue to get this team some wins. If not, rookie TJ Yates may be looked upon to take over.

Running Backs:

Lance Ball- The Broncos are going to give enough carries each week to tally the total an unordinary amount. With Knowshown Moreno out for the season, Ball steps in with McGahee to get plenty of looks.

Mike Bush- By now the fact that Bush isn’t owned by majority owners is crazy. He should have been picked up weeks ago. When McFadden returns healthy, you can expect Bush to get a few more carries than he was before. An impact back, that is making the most of his one year deal. Can you say Mike Turner cash in 2012?

Chester Taylor- Give Beanie Wells credit for trying to fight off a knee injury. You can tell though he isn’t close to being healthy. After having some fantasy worthy weeks, Wells has become a non factor. His past three to four games his yards per carry have dipped tremendously. Taylor is a veteran that doesn’t offer much, but he is the Cardinals second back.

Wide Receiver

DeNarius Moore-

It’s been awhile since Moore did something fantasy worthy, and it came in a big way. Two big touchdown catches against the Chargers, show that Moore will continue to be the deep threat with Palmer. The rookie is dynamic, and stretches the field better than Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Davone Bess-

Matt Moore is doing better and better each week. Brandon Marshall and tight end Anthony Fasano are garnering almost all of Moore’s looks. With the running game improving, you’d think someone else would get involved in the pass catching department. With Henne, Bess was a catch receiving monster. Look for Miami to get Bess re-involved now that Moore is doing better.

Johnny Knox-

Right now the Bears offense has completely transformed. A lot of it has to do with Matt Forte’s MVP type year, but it also has to do with adjustments by play caller Mike Martz. Jay Cutler is not getting drilled as much, and the passing game is showing positive output from it. Earl Bennett has had two successful weeks after returning from injury. Teams will gear to limit him and upcoming weeks, and Knox will be the one to benefit from that.

Ed Dickson-

It goes from one extreme to the other with the Ravens. Losses unexpectedly, too thrilling wins over conference contenders. It’s been that case because the offense is never in sync. One week, Ray Rice can be the explosive receiver. The next it’s Anquan Boldin or rookie Torrey Smith. This past week, Flacco could not count on either so had to force feed Dickson. Sooner or later, this team has to be cohesive all over offensively. Can they get it together and be an offensive fire power by January?

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

No matter if you were a WWF fan or not, everyone has heard of the Bushwhackers. They had a famous routine as wresters, and had proper chemistry with each other. In the aspect of fantasy football, a couple of Bush’s shot up the fantasy radar spectrum with monster week nine’s.

In the case of Reggie Bush, you expected him to be more of a threat as a Dolphin. That has yet to be seen on the level people would of liked. Limited carries in a non featured role, has relegated him to a fantasy bench spot. Lately though the Dolphins are mixing him in to more and more offensive schemes. Plays that allow him to get in the open field, and utilize his skills the best.

Quick draws and getting him out in the flat, have boded well for new Dolphin signal caller Matt Moore. Moore has become more comfortable with a few starts as a Dolphin under his belt, and that’s led to better offensive proficiency.

After Bush’s 142 combined yards with a touchdown Sunday, many would like to ponder at least inserting him as a flex option. I’d say hold your horses just yet. Kansas City allowed Miami to blow them out at home, and seemed to have hit the bottom of their emotional roller coaster from the previous week’s Monday Night victory.

Bush still only had thirteen carries. Yardage wise he is likely good for eight to ten points a game, but counting on a touchdown from him is shaky. There are probably better options on your roster that you can depend on.

Over in Oakland, ones misfortune with Darren McFadden has become another owner or a protective owners satisfaction with Michael Bush. Bush has come in and done what he typically does. Fill in decently, and perform at the caliber of a starting running back. Why, no other team tried to sign him in the off-season is unknown.

A big back, Bush has solid speed to complement his size. With McFadden out again this week for Thursday, you can go ahead and reinsert Bush without flinching. The Raiders have one of the better run games in football, and are going to feed whomever the workhorse feature back is.

We may even see Bush’s workload rise due to Palmer’s continuous struggles thus far. Six interceptions in just six quarters of action. The heat is on the organization after pulling the trade they did for Palmer, and they may want to execute a game plan that alleviates Palmer’s decision making.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Have the bye weeks and injuries caused a skid of losses that you hope end this week? Turning your season around, may ride on this week. Who are some value guys out there that you should start or avoid?

Quarterbacks

Start: Philip Rivers

Many think Rivers and the Chargers will struggle with the way they lost on Monday Night. Have the way the Chargers played over the years ever been predictable? Look for this team to come out and play the Packers tough. Rivers has had one of his roughest years, and his botched snap may finally of been the wake up call for 2011.

Start: Jon Skelton

Sometimes teams can come out and give it their all for a game. For a game last week the Rams put on a good performance. One week though is not going to bypass the major deficiences of this team. Often one game fill in quarterbacks can have some success. Heck, undrafted rookie Max Hall got a win for the Cardinals against the Saints last year. Skelton is a big quarterback that had a few starts a year ago. He’ll deliver some key balls and put up decent numbers against a poor Rams defense

Start: Matt Cassel

Cassel has put together a solid run of starts transitioning himself from a borderline fantasy starter, to the zone that you can take a risk with a favorable matchup. This is that week as the Chiefs face the Miami Dolphins. His simple reads seem to be there, and his accuracy has boosted. Having tall targets such as Dwayne Bowe and Jonathan Baldwin help as well.

Sit: Joe Flacco

Flacco has just been too erratic lately to put him in as a fantasy starter against a top tier defense. The Steelers injuries defensively will bode well for Ray Rice more than Flacco.

Sit: Josh Freeman

New Orleans has been a team that Freeman has torched in the past. Look for this game to be a bit different. New Orleans is coming off a horrible loss, and knows all to well that this game is pivotal for positioning within the division. Freeman has struggled most of the year, in large part to his receivers not separating from cornerbacks.

Running Backs

Start: DeMarco Murray

Keep riding the newly found most productive waiver wire back of the year.

Start: Steven Jackson

St. Louis believes they can get a two game win streak going. They’ll try to ride the success of last week’s victory, which was with the legs of running back Steven Jackson.

Start: Reggie Bush

Though the Dolphins offense lacks spark, Bush is slowly starting to compile fantasy worthy numbers. With Daniel Thomas shaky to play weekly, Bush is getting more and more reps. Look for him to have another outing worthy to be a flex starter.

Sit: Chris Johnson

You want to figure out a week to insert Johnson for a breakout week but it just doesn’t happen. Now he faces one of the top defenses in the league against the Bengals.

Sit: Tashard Choice

This won’t be the week that Choice has an out of no where game.

Wide Receivers

Start: Pierre Garcon

Start: Joshua Cribbs

Start: Victor Cruz

Sit: Antonio Gates

Sit: Torrey Smith

Sit: Darrius Heyward-Bey

By Vidur Malik

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The Oakland Raiders once again made noise by signing a former Cincinnati Bengal, this time wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

There are a few ways you can analyze this acquisition, and you could make a case for it being both a good and bad decision.

Let’s start with why it could be good. The obvious reason is that Houshmandzadeh and new Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer played together with the Bengals. The chemistry they developed there should make Houshmandzadeh’s move easier and should also give Palmer – who is also learning his new team’s system – a dependable target to throw to. Also, the Raiders’ receiving corps is made up mostly of fast receivers who are downfield threats but might not have the greatest hands. Houshmandzadeh is a possession receiver who can give Palmer a target over the middle of the field while guys like Darrius Heyward-Bey and Denarius Moore look to beat defenses with the deep ball.

If things go smoothly, Houshmandzadeh should fit in well with the Raiders, and might make a significant contribution in the season’s second half.

On the flipside, this pickup might make the Raiders’ issues on offense even more confusing. If both he and Palmer have to learn the offense, does that mean there are even more liabilities on the team? Will both players take time to get to full speed? In that case, Houshmandzadeh might not get many game reps, allowing critics to question his signing.

It could go either way. Just like skeptics asked whether Palmer would be effective after being away from the game for a while, the same questions could be brought up for Houshmandzadeh.

From a fantasy perspective, it’s probably best to hold off on picking up Houshmandzadeh for a while. More importantly than his own performance, look at Palmer’s play to see whether he is improving from the horrendous three-interception performance he had in his Raider debut against Kansas City in week 7. If Palmer plays well, or at least mediocre, that should give Houshmandzadeh some opportunities.

There are a lot of if’s when it comes to whether Houshmandzadeh will become the Raiders’ new weapon. You’ve got to factor in both his play and the play of his quarterback, so if you want to add him to your team, you should wait a few weeks. Because of his style, he could become a red zone threat or a key third-down guy, so the potential is there, but potential doesn’t get you fantasy points. Take a wait-and-see approach with Houshmandzadeh.