By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The one and done philosophy is frowned upon by college coaches and NBA scouts. There are only a handful of athletes in college that should be taken advantage of this leap. That never is the case, and when the majority of Kentucky’s team all left as freshman it made waves. One name that was included in the whispered chants of should of stayed was Eric Bledsoe.

Bledsoe fell a bit and landed with the Los Angeles Clippers. A role that looked perfect for Bledsoe to sit back and learn from NBA veteran, Baron Davis. How quick a tune can change from normal patterns. Baron Davis has been hobbled early on in the season and can’t seem to shake a bum knee. The lingering affects of multiple surgeries and age have doubts on whether Davis will see much action at all. So at 19 years old, Eric Bledsoe has stepped onto the court and done a fabulous job on leading the Clippers.

They’re young as a whole, but Bledsoe has shined with starter’s minutes. He is currently averaging 10 points, four rebounds, and five assists a game. With the Clippers playing late at night most aren’t seeing his action. It’s shocking that he is still available in over half of Yahoo Fantasy NBA leagues. Especially since he has had an array of stat filling games in the month of November. Like most rookies you have to take a hit in a few columns with Bledsoe. The only major rotisserie league stat that he will hurt you in is with turnovers, and off nights field goal percentage wise.

His all around game though is worth seeking on the waiver wire. Obviously the Clippers will reduce his minutes somewhat if Baron Davis can prove he can step onto the court. Maneuvering to Bledsoe after his early season showcase will likely be a move sooner than anticipated. He is definitely one of the better blossoming surprises early on in the 2010 NBA season.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

Most rookies in the NBA undergo rough first seasons. That wasn’t expected to be the case for Jonny Flynn. He rose to prominence at Syracuse during the Big East tournament and NCAA tournament. His stock rose and to the curiosity of fans the Timberwolves selected Ricky Rubio and Flynn. They were to be the dynamic new guards to work off each other. Whispers were Flynn might play off guard while Rubio ran point. Confusion galore surrounded those picks. Then Rubio had his public relations team release that he would not be committing to the Timberwolves anytime soon. That left Flynn as the lone point guard to showcase his talents.

Summer league 2009 Flynn was out dueling everyone. He won an award for summer league player of the week, and many expected Flynn to be in the hunt for ROY. Reality of playing in Minnesota hit, as the team that had minute talent dealt with those players having injuries. Flynn had his ups and downs but still finished the year with an average of fourteen points per game and four assists a game. Yet around the league it was noticeable that many rookie point guards drafted lower than him flourished. Too make matters worse during the second to last game of the season Flynn injured his hip which required off-season surgery.

Focus could have drifted for Flynn as the Timberwolves brought in Luke Ridnour amid heavy rumors that Flynn would be dealt. Those rumors died down and Flynn is now ready to get back out onto the practice court. With him now healthy it’ll be interesting to see how he readjusts. He’ll likely miss the first four to seven games as they monitor him in practice, and let him get acclimated. For now Ridnour will start but expect the Timberwolves to not lower Flynn’s minutes.

Last year he averaged around 29 minutes a game. At times they would go with Ramon Sessions who left via free agency. The same sort of mixture in the backcourt should happen this year. Ridnour is a veteran. You know what you’re going to get from him each night. It’s not going to be stellar but he can run the program and ease back a bit on turnovers. Flynn on the other hand is still blossoming with a ton of room to grow.

We love the fact that the sixth and seventh men off the bench will likely be rookie Wesley Johnson and Jonny Flynn. They’ll come in together and provide instant energy with their camaraderie. They’ve known each other three years dating back to when Flynn was a sophomore and Johnson sitting out his transfer year at Syracuse. There’s going to be a lot of ugly losses for the Timberwolves, and we expect Johnson/Flynn to get plenty of meaningless minutes in the fourth quarter. Padding their stats will be no problem.

As long as Flynn can avoid Rambis’s dog house he should bolster and improve on his rookie season stats. Two key things he definitely needs to have improved on where his field goal percentage and turnovers. They both were killers for rotisserie league participants. Those worried that the Timberwolves still may want to trade Flynn, shouldn’t be. They’ll have to showcase him in order to garner trade interest. The only way to do that is get him on the court and show that he is an improved player and fully healthy from his hip surgery.

Flynn went in the late stages of most fantasy drafts, and most likely should be your fourth point guard/utility man in rotisserie leagues. Upside is there though unlike most third or fourth point guards on your roster.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The basketball summer league is underway. As they say the NBA keeps things rolling. A week after the finals concluded the NBA draft happened, and a week later the NBA summer league. It gives teams a chance to see the value of their players as well as fill potential roster holes with free agent rookies. Even if some of the free agents do not make their summer league squads they often get a formal invite to another teams training camp. It also gives teams with first round selections and second round picks a survey of potential bargaining for that athletes contract.

Over the next two and a half weeks we all know about the athletes that are supposed to stand out, who we all want to see is the under the radar athletes. Will keep you posted on who emerges but here is a look at a few players that have started off very well.

Lance Stephenson- Stephenson had more downs than ups while at Cincinnati but decided to jump the gun anyways as a freshman. Indiana will let him develop and try to see if he can play the point a bit. He doesn’t have the craftiness of a Tyreke Evans but he sees the floor fairly well. He’ll have to continually work on his perimeter shot to get decent playing time.

Patrick Ewing Jr- The son of the Magic’s assistant coach, Patrick Ewing, has been getting big time minutes and making use of them. The first two days of the summer league Ewing has been able to knock down shots and be one of the biggest factors of any player thus far. If he can keep it up he’ll find himself earning an invitation to someone’s training camp.

Daniel Orton-  Rumblings of Orton being the Kentucky player that was not near ready are starting to be seen vividly. He played limited action behind DeMarcus Cousins in Kentucky and still was a first round pick by Orlando. Hopefully for Orlando’s sake his 1 for 14 start in two days is just jittery bugs. He has had foul and turnover trouble and looks completely lost on the court. Sadly he could be spending his guaranteed contract years in the D-League with Hasheem Thabeet.

Luke Harangody- One of a few players who went undrafted that had your head shaking. Harangody played in one of the top if not best conferences in the country and was a force every season. Teams were not sure about his ability to transform a college skillset to the NBA. Maybe right now he has the edge of proving everybody wrong. Whatever it is he is making a name for himself.

Eric Maynor- Maynor isn’t lighting up stats thus far, but he is the best point guard in Orlando’s summer league. He has that natural knack of knowing how to run a team, and not over dribble. He penetrates the lane well and puts his wing players  in perfect spots on fast breaks. Maynor bounced around a bit being traded last year, but should find a solid backup role behind Russell Westbrook.

Gerald Henderson- He has strong athleticism and seems to have worked on his dribbling. That has allowed him to create better space for himself as a smallish two guard. Where he may be halted in stepping on the court for the Bobcats is his defense. He was burnt a few times on simple blow by moves that just aren’t going to be tolerated by an NBA coaching staff.

Jodie Meeks- With his torching scoring ability he’ll fill someone teams eleventh or last man roster spot. You have to give it to Meeks because he could easily be banking big money overseas right now. Instead he is going to try to continue to work on elevating his game and battling to make it in the NBA.

By Vidur Malik

One of the biggest pleasant surprises on my fantasy team last year came in the form of Vernon Davis’s monster season. Honestly, I drafted him out of loyalty. He showed signs of being a big part of the offense, but his stats were sub-par, and everyone began to wonder whether he would live up to the expectations that come with being a high-first round pick. As a 49ers fan, I figured I would take him and hope that he could produce.

I didn’t expect him to grab 13 touchdowns and be a consistent source of points. While the quarterback position continued to be a source of controversy and inconsistency and Michael Crabtree held out and missed the beginning of the season, Davis became a reliable target for Shaun Hill and Alex Smith, and after seeing coach Mike Singletary banish him from the field and the sideline during a game in the 2008 season, it was good to see Davis post elite-level numbers.

Davis should put up similar numbers next year, and exceed them if the team can get a sense of consistency, and stay healthy. If the team puts some faith in Alex Smith and gives him control over the offense, that would accomplish a lot in terms of team chemistry and continuity. With offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye coming back, Smith can be coached by a familiar face, something he hasn’t been able to do his whole career. A boost in Smith’s production should also increase Davis’s numbers.

Added and returning weapons should also help the offense, and free up Davis for more looks. With Crabtree coming back for a second season, and his first full season with training camp, preseason, and a full 16 games, he should only improve upon his solid rookie season, in which he established himself as a target. Frank Gore has been a top-tier running back and pass catcher out of the backfield, and backup Glen Coffee shows promise. If rookies Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati can beef up the offensive line, Smith should have more time to look down the field, and Gore and Coffee should be able to run wild against the NFC West. On the other side of the football, Patrick Willis leads an up-and-coming defense with an improving secondary and consistent pass-rushers, which should produce more three-and-outs and turnovers to get the offense on the field.

Davis should be able to pick up where he left off in 2009, and continue to be a top-level fantasy tight end. If the quarterback question is finally answered, and players around him continue to improve, Davis should be a great pick. I wish I could say I drafted him last year because I knew he would have a big year, but any owner who uses a pick on Davis this summer should do it with the belief that he will gain 800+ yards and put up another double-digit touchdown year.

>масиack Cimini
Notjustagame23@gmail.com

On Christmas day the Phoenix Suns got a great gift with the return of Leandro Barbosa to their bench rotation. Barbosa had missed twelve games with a bum ankle. During that time the Suns found a new nucleus of role players to compliment their starters. Young players such as Jared Dudley and Goran Dragic have come in and earned their minutes. Alvin Gentry is going to have a rough time dividing up the minutes now with a bench as deep as his.

Barbosa’s minutes are near a career low only averaging 21 minutes a game. Do not look for Barbosa to get buried to the eighth or ninth spot off the bench. He is an electric player that has not lost the speed that has differentiated him as one of the best sparks to come off the bench. Instead of the Suns cutting the minutes of Dragic and Dudley look for them to reduce Grant Hill’s.

At 38, he is playing as if he did during his Detroit days. His great start though early on has been a bit shaky as of late. Some games he can be a great force and others he seems a step slow. We believe this has to do with his high minutes of play and the hectic schedule of the NBA. If the Suns can figure out a better system to utilize him that will prevent his erratic play and keep him fresh for a full season. The Suns will definitely need his size and defensive presence throughout the season.

The other player the Suns need to figure out their main plan for is Channing Frye. There is plenty to rave about Frye on the year. When the Suns are running and gunning he is one of the players teams are puzzled on matching against. He spreads the floor nicely as a big man, and is showing a three point shot teams never were aware of. That’s the good part of Frye. His weakness has always been to bang on the boards as a 6’10 big man. It’s part of the reason why Lou Amundson has been gaining minutes.

Expect games that the Suns aren’t getting high proficiency from Frye for him to take a seat on the bench. He is averaging by far a career high in minutes at nearly 32 a game. We don’t see that trend continuing and for him to probably slip down to the 25-28 minute average.

Fantasy owners should be racing to their mouse clickers and logging in to their Yahoo Fantasy NBA Leagues. Barbosa is only owned in 57 percent of leagues currently. You know that he is going to be a high percentage shooter with his slashes to the whole and ability to attack and get to the free throw line. Barbosa is just a solid steady player that isn’t going to kill you with horrible shooting like most bottom tier role players in your fantasy leagues.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

Oklahoma City made a quiet move but one that’s going to keep their team young and up and coming. They traded for rookie point guard Eric Maynor from the Utah Jazz. It looks as if the experiment with using Shaun Livingston as their backup point guard did not pan out. Livingston was waived to make the move possible without going over roster limits.

Before we delve into how much of an impact Maynor will be, lets give huge credit to Shaun Livingston. We had the chance to do an interview with him while he was rehabbing through his horrific knee injury. He worked his tail off and has been positioning himself for a regular rotation spot since that injury two years ago. If there is someone that isn’t going to give up it is Livingston. He has the size at 6’7 but lost a ton of quickness and lateral movement he once had. Look for him to keep working with trainers to get some form of sharpness and foot speed back.

Eric Maynor is just another young player the Oklahoma City are stock piling. Maynor is instantly going to pay dividends and be able to be a complimentary backup point guard to Russell Westbrook. Maynor had a tough time keeping minutes and finding an primary role with the Jazz. Their intentions were to have him backup Deron Williams and develop from there. For whatever reason the Jazz decided to unload him and now he is in a perfect fit with the Thunder.

Maynor will not let this trade curtail his rookie campaign. If anything he should be able to step in and help this young team due to the fact he played all four years in college. Arguably Maynor could have been looked at as the top point guard coming out of last years draft. He was part of one of the best classes in a long time from a point guard standpoint. Just being selected 20th overall in that class shows how much value the Jazz saw in him.

Deron Williams did miss some time in mid November. During that three game stretch the Jazz inserted Maynor to play some big minutes. With the increased minutes Maynor averaged 17 points, 7 assists, and four rebounds a game. The shot selection may have not been the best and his turnover margin was a bit high. There isn’t a young guard in the league that doesn’t struggle in that area though.

In limited minutes overall with the Jazz, Maynor made the most of them and had decent numbers with 5 points and 3 assists a game. Oklahoma City will surely use Maynor more than the Jazz did. Shaun Livingston was averaging ten minutes a game before his departure, and based on Maynor’s skills we could see him getting around fifteen to seventeen a game.

Maynor is definitely a player to keep your eye on. They have a lot of athleticism and could play just about any five athletes on the floor. Oklahoma City wasted no time in getting Maynor involved by inserting him in the game against the Suns. He seems very comfortable already and adds that element of running with the core of players the Thunder have and allowing them to finish. Livingston was more of a steady half court point guard which tended to slow their offense down for stretches.