Devastating Injuries for Wk. 6
Take Me Down to the Infirmary
Here's the injury run down for Monday. I wasn't able to present the Dose in this format last week, but hope to have it look like this every Monday from here on out. I'll be here at 2 p.m. EST for a live chat, so look for the link on the front page of Rotoworld at 1:45 today.
*PAYOR = Play At Your Own Risk
LeBron James – Finger – PAYOR (I'm starting him but I'm scared)
Chris Bosh – Groin – PAYOR (sounds like he's out for Monday)
Tim Duncan – Knee/Ankle – Bench him (2 games, he'll sit at least 1)
Manu Ginobili – Finger – Start him (played through it Sunday)
Jason Williams – Foot – PAYOR (I am benching him, but could play)
Carlos Boozer – Ankle – PAYOR (says he's feeling "a lot better")
Mehmet Okur – Back – PAYOR (game-time decision Monday)
Steve Nash – Elbow – Start him (injury limiting him, but playing)
Jermaine O'Neal – Shoulder/knee – Start him (played well in last game)
Richard Hamilton – Elbow – Start him (playing through injury)
Andrea Bargnani – Knee – PAYOR (likely out on Monday)
T.J. Ford – Thumb – PAYOR (playing through pain, could miss time)
Ronny Turiaf – Concussion – PAYOR (questionable)
Marko Jaric – Foot – Bench him (injury sounds more than mild)
Stephon Marbury – Personal - Bench him (father died Sunday, could miss week)
Nick Collison – Nose – Start him (should play Weds)
Al Thornton – Ankle – PAYOR (left last game)
Sam Cassell – Calf – PAYOR (likely to miss 1-2 games)
Acie Law – Ankle – Bench him
Kwame Brown – Knee – Bench him
Carlos Arroyo – Personal – PAYOR (left team for ill child)
Ron Artest – Personal – Start him (played last game/ill child)
Eddie Jones – Ankle – Bench him
Devean George – Foot – Bench him
Steve Francis – Back – PAYOR (missed last game)
Theo Ratliff – Knee – Bench him (might be back soon)
Mickael Pietrus – Head – PAYOR (left last game)
Matt Barnes – Head – Start him (played through injury)
Marquis Daniels – Knee – Bench him (two games + knee = 0)
There are some big names on that list of injured guys and I'm hopeful that some updates will come in throughout the day. That said, I don't think they will. LeBron will likely be a game-time decision for Tuesday, but the problem is, weekly lineups are due tonight (except for those of you in a certain huge, free league that inexplicably locks your lineup around two in the morning). I'm going for it and starting him this week, but I will not lie and tell you that I'm not highly concerned. I really thought he was going to go against the Celtics on Sunday. The injury is on his non-shooting hand, he hates the Celtics and it's "just a sprain." With those three factors at work yesterday, it's simply disturbing that he didn't play. Now I'm just hoping he plays at least two of four games this week and that he doesn't need surgery. Maybe I'm being overly dramatic here, but if a sprained finger on LeBron's non-shooting hand can keep him out for two and a half straight games, I am not feeling all that confident. Then again, it's just a sprained finger, right? Hopefully he plays on Tuesday and we don't have to worry about it anymore.
Then there are guys like
Chris Bosh and
Tim Duncan. Bosh and Duncan both sound like they'll miss at least their first game of the week and maybe more. With four games, there's a chance you could get three out of Bosh this week, but I think it's a long shot with his groin injury. It sounds like Duncan avoided disaster last night, but the Spurs aren't going to take any chances here. With only two games on the schedule in the next seven days, this is a perfect chance for ths Spurs (and you) to rest Duncan. I'm the only undefeated team left in a large industry league where I own Duncan, and I am pretty sure my winning streak is coming to an end this week. But it probably would have anyway since I own so many Pacers, Magic and Spurs players who go just twice this week.
In League Freak, which his Rick Kamla of NBA TV's league, I am actually starting
Carlos Delfino and
Anthony Parker this week due to my Pacers and Magic players going just twice. It's a somewhat shallow league and those guys might be stretches, but with Bosh and Bargnani both iffy for the week, I'm hoping for four solid games out of each of them. I'm playing Kamla head-to-head this week and we're both going with small lineups, as he'll be without Duncan and I'm benching
Dwight Howard with just two games. With the Raptors' injury concerns, Parker, Delfino and
Jamario Moon all look like strong plays this week. Add to it the fact that
T.J. Ford is on a 20-minute timer and still playing in pain, and you can add
Jose Calderon to the list of solid starts for the Raptors as well.
The New York Post is suggesting that
Stephon Marbury could miss the entire week after the sudden passing of his father on Sunday. It's pretty sad that his dad, Don, had to endure all the booing of his son during the past couple weeks, as he attended many of the Knicks' home games. He was in attendance at the Garden on Sunday night, but reportedly left early for a hospital with chest pains, where he later died. Marbury was very close to his father and when you add in the drama surrounding the Knicks right now, along with the death of his aunt two weeks ago, you just have to hope Marbury gets through the next month with his sanity. You would think
Mardy Collins is the logical replacement, but he hasn't played in the last couple games with an ankle injury. And
Nate Robinson has simply fallen out of the rotation. So
Fred Jones could actually be the guy who picks up most of Marbury's minutes, assuming he misses time. That said, I don't even know who to tell you to pick up here.
It sounds like
Carlos Boozer is set to play tonight (according to him), while
Mehmet Okur is more of a game-time decision. Sunday saw Jermaine O'Neal return to action and play well, so I'm thinking he's playable this week. Of course, in weekly leagues he'll only go twice for you, so it depends on your options.
There is Actually Some Good News
Ben Wallace blew up for 10 points, 19 boards, five steals and four blocks on Saturday. Wow. I was actually getting "should I cut Big Ben" emails there for a minute, so I'm glad order has been restored.
Ben Gordon and
Luol Deng are also waking up, and I'm almost certain that Hinrich's about ready to get it turned around as well. If I don't start getting the "thank God I didn't dump Hinrich" emails in the next 10 days, there will be a real reason for concern.
Lamar Odom finally broke out of his funk with 19-17-3 on Sunday, but I don't like his game right now. I think Odom is a guy you can sell to fill a need and get solid value in return. He's not posting any assists and doesn't look like he's fitting in too well at small forward. If he moves back to power forward, maybe he'll get it going.
Kenyon Martin had a season-high 20 points last night and added eight boards against the Heat. It looks like he's got a shot of making it back from the knee problems, so feel free to pick him up and play him if you want to.
Kevin Durant backed up his 35-point night with six points on 2-of-12 shooting on Sunday. This is why I don't own Durant in any of my eight leagues.
Grant Hill peaked with 28 points, eight boards, seven assists and three steals on Sunday, and this is the reason I wish I owned him in one of my eight leagues.
Clipper
Chris Kaman had 22 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks last night, while
Jamaal Tinsley had 29 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three 3-pointers for the Pacers. Yeah, I knew Kaman was going to be better this season and even thought he had a chance to be well above average without
Elton Brand around, but this is getting ridiculous. The same can be said for Tinsley, who is obviously loving life under new coach Jim O'Brien. If you somehow ended up with both of those guys on your team, you should be near the top of the standings. Those guys are seventh-rounders who have been posting first-round production all season.