http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/22853 Recent articles about Julian Wright en-us The baseball season is coming to a close, meaning fantasy football rules the world for the month of October. This cannot stand. Rotowhine is jumping into its fantasy basketball preseason coverage and Jeff examines backups to keep an eye on in the late rounds of the draft to start things off. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:00:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/341226 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/341226 Who will be this year's Monta Ellis? Paulie Knep has an idea. In fact, he has 10 of them. Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:42:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332354 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/332354 LAST SEASON The Hornets surprised many around the league by winning the toughest Division (Southwest) in the NBA and easily knocking out Dallas in the 1st round. Byron Scott was named Coach of the Year for his efforts, and Chris Paul had one of the greatest seasons EVER by a point guard, finishing 2nd in the MVP voting. They lost in 7 games to the Spurs, but it was a very successful season for such a young team. OFFSEASON MOVES Key Additions: James Posey Key Losses: Bonzi Wells, Jannero Pargo? Fresh off a key 6th man role for the champion Celtics, James Posey was able to parlay his solid play into a 4 year, $25 million deal with the Hornets. Posey's arrival means Wells is now expendable. New Orleans would like to re-sign backup guard Jannero Pargo, but he is receiving interest from other teams as well. And while the Hornets traded away their only draft pick, they had much more important matters at hand, as they signed Chris Paul to a 3-year contract extension for $68 million. ROTATION / PLAYING TIME How good was CP3 last year? Well, the only other player in NBA history to average 20+ points (21.1), 10+ assists (11.6), and 2.5+ steals (2.71) was Isiah Thomas in '83-84 (also at the age of 22). Two key differences: Paul had 2.51 turnovers per game vs. 3.74 for Isiah, and Paul shot 85.1% from the line vs. 73.3% FT for the former Piston. Needless to say, Paul (37.6 mpg) will get the bulk of the PG minutes once again. David West also had a stellar season, and will play roughly 38 minutes as well at power forward. At center, Tyson Chandler played a career-high 35.3 minutes, but blocked a career-low 1.06 shots per game (his rookie year, he blocked more shots in less than HALF as many minutes!). Chandler was supposed to be an alternate for Team USA this summer, but a toe injury has prevented him from travelling with the team. Obviously, this is a key injury that needs to be monitored. Minutes are a little more up in the air at the swingmen spots. In '07-08, Peja Stojakovic played 35.3 mpg at SF and Morris Peterson played 23.6 mpg at SG. Ideally, Posey would replace Mo-Pete in most situations, but as of now, Byron Scott is saying Mo-Pete will start and Posey will back up both players off the bench. Tentatively, I'm going to project 34 minutes for Peja, 28 minutes for Posey, 18 minutes for Mo-Pete, and 18 minutes for Pargo (assuming he returns). Julian Wright had a fine rookie campaign, and should see about 12-14 minutes of action at both forward spots. And lastly, Hilton Armstrong & Melvin Ely will battle for the remaining big men minutes, so keep an eye on them if TC's toe is still bothering him. DON'T SLEEP ON: David West & James Posey Despite being named to the All-Star team last year and nearly every single analyst calling him the most underrated power forward in the game, David West will still be overlooked by many on draft day '08. In this article from a year ago (http://www.82games.com/fantasy/1block_77ft.htm), I suggested that if West could just block a few more shots, he would be able to join the exclusive 1+ Block & 77% FT club. Well, he did just that and improved in other areas as well. In fact, only 4 players averaged 20+ points and 8+ rebounds while shooting over 48% FG and 80% FT in '07-08: Amare Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Chris Bosh, and David West. That's exclusive company right there. I strongly recommend drafting West before more popular players such as Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, and Al Jefferson, and if you let him fall past the 4th round, you're going to regret it. I'm not certain of it, but there's a good chance that West met James Posey on a recruiting trip way back in 1998. You see, Posey led Xavier University in rebounding for 3 straight years before graduating in 1999. A few months later, West stepped onto campus and proceeded to lead Xavier to 94 wins in 4 seasons while being named the A-10 Player of the Year three years in a row. So don't be surprised if you see them throwing up a lot of X's this season. A lot of people are going to ignore Posey this year due to his lowly 7.4 ppg average, but I think he's going to be an excellent late round value pick. He may start the season on the bench, but the Hornets aren't paying him $25 million to ride the pine, so his minutes are sure to rise from the 24.6 that he played last year. As a result, Posey could easily crack the Top 50 in both threes and steals in '08-09. For his career, he's a rock solid 82% FT shooter, and he also pitches in with boards & blocks. I'm suggesting you target Posey in Rounds 10-12, which is exactly where people targeted Mo-Pete a year ago. Peterson didn't deliver, but Posey will. BE CAREFUL OF: Peja Stojakovic After playing in just 13 games the year before, Peja bounced back nicely in '07-08, playing in 77 games and knocking down 231 threes (2nd behind Jason Richardson). However, this is not the same fantasy stud that we used to know and love. For proof, let's compare some of his '07-08 stats to his '03-04 stats. In '03-04, he shot a blistering 92.7% FT on 5.2 attempts per game. Last season, he made a career-high 92.9% of his freebies, but he attempted just 1.8 per contest. In '03-04, he pulled down 6.3 rebounds and grabbed 1.3 steals per game. Last season, those averages were down to 4.3 and .7, and they could plummet even further with Posey now in town (a superior rebounder & defender). A lot of people are going to draft Peja in Round 5 because those 3 threes per game are so juicy, but those people probably don't realize that he had to shoot a career-best 44.1% from beyond the arc to make that many. Since most of Stojakovic's stats are going to decline this year, I suggest waiting until Rounds 7 or 8 to grab him. ROUND BY ROUND TARGETS (Where you should draft these guys in an 8-cat Roto league with 12 teams and 14 man rosters) Click on the link to find out! Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:12:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300461 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300461 With 5 games in play, Jason Thompson highlighted the whole day when the Kings won with his game-winning 3 point play in OT to edge the Blazers by one point. Along with two 30 point games by Marco Belinelli and D.J. Augustin, the summer league's top stars continue to shine. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:43:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291359 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291359 Bobby Brown rises in summer league scoring 20 points including the go-ahead shot, while Arron Affalo and Marco Bellinelli each scored 25 points leading to wins for their teams, and see why Clippers' lottery pick Eric Gordon is out for the rest of summer league after playing 2 games. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:32:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290271 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290271 Rookies tend to get most of the hoopla during Summer League action, but the reality is that very few of them will make an immediate fantasy impact. So here are a few non-rookies to look out for. Not all of them are worth drafting, but all have the potential to put up nice numbers if they continue to improve and the opportunity presents itself. Some non-rookies who looked great in Summer League 2007 and carried that momentum into the regular season include: Louis Williams, Francisco Garcia, Kelenna Azubuike, and Jason Maxiell (all had solid fantasy value at some point last season). Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:19:00 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287882 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287882 Check out Hornets forward Julian Wright's life on and off the court. See how he lives life as an NBA rookie, and check out his bowling and basketball skills. Wright also shows off his New Orleans home for a mock MTV Cribs episode. Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:22:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/244141 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/244141 Better late than never. The Kings took the season series 2-1 and Artest was the big hero from deep in the end, hitting 4 clutch 3 pointers to help the Kings knock the Hornets out of first place for the second time. The Kings are doing their part in the playoffs, even though they aren't in it. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:11:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236522 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/236522 It's Tuesday of Week 20 and the season is quickly winding down. To help you finish strong in your league, consider picking up one of the following players listed as a "jewel" below and/or dropping one of the players listed as a "fool". Good luck in the final stretch! Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:11:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/191346 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/191346 As I gaze into my "Crystal Ball," I thought I would share some of what I see. However, the forces that give me a glimpse into the future work mysteriously and sometimes their visions turn out to be nothing but a cruel joke. So take these predictions with the utmost caution! In the Eastern Conference: Mike Bibby fits in nicely in Atlanta and averages 15 points and 7 assists the rest of the way. Al Horford becomes a dark-horse candidate for rookie of the year. Tony Allen becomes a valuable fantasy commodity, especially for those that need a push in the steals category. Kevin Garnett comes back with a vengeance to post 15 double-doubles in a row, including three games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. And that's just the beginning... Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:48:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/150573 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/150573