Coach Mike Shannahan says that he doesn’t feel comfortable satrting Torain this week because he only has about a week and a half of practice time in and only a week of full contact practice with no restrictions. He also said that he might be forced to play him. This doesn’t bode well for fantasy owners who have been waiting for the chance to see what this kid can do. It is probably wise to sit him this week in your league just to see how things shake out at kickoff. However, weeks 10-15 look like solid starts against some pitiful run defenses in @ CLE, @ATL, OAK, @NYJ and KC. Things could get pretty exciting in the next few weeks.

When rounding out your fantasy lineup, you have roughly three options. 1) Pick up a guy who is established in the league already and will get you consistent numbers throughout the year. 2) Pick up a rookie and take a huge chance that he will get consistent playing time and produce better than an established veteran. 3) Pick up that player that has shown flashes of brilliance followed by lackluster performances hoping to find lightning in a bottle in a player that blossoms into a huge fantasy contributor. I personally prefer option number 3 and here are a few guys who fit the bill when it comes to players destined to have that breakout season.

Tyrus Thomas: This guy has been on fantasy radars for a few years now and he has made his owners very happy at times only to turn around and do nothing at all for a couple games. His inconsistency might have had something to do with the Bulls and how dysfunctional they have been recently. With Joakim Noah coming off of the bench, Thomas will get a chance to start and show the fantasy world what we have expected for the last two years. He can be a beast on the boards and a defensive presence now that Ben Wallace is gone. In his first game this year he posted these stats: 15 pts, 10 reb, 3 asst, 2 stl, and 1 blk. Not bad for a third year guy. I think there won’t be as much pressure on him this year which should allow him to bust out and have a serious fantasy season.
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It is time for this sleeper to wake up. Ryan Torain has been getting a ton of press lately. The guy hasn’t even played a single down in the NFL yet but that doesn’t stop fantasy sports dorks all around from hyping the hell out of him. It is understandable though. Torain has a great shot at getting 10-15 touches per game (in the beginning) for the Denver Broncos now that he is completely healthy and returning from a broken elbow that he sustained in preseason. Pair that with these words from Denver coach Mike Shannahan “He’s one of the most gifted running backs I’ve been around for a long time. He is very similar to Terrell Davis when he came in,” and you just might have a huge fantasy contributor in the making. If he can take over the majority of touches he will be a must add player.

Torain will benefit from a weak schedule ahead of him seeing that Denver plays MIA, at CLE, at ATL, OAK, at NYJ, and KC. CLE, ATL, OAK and KC are terrible against the run. With Denver’s system and Torain’s skill set, you could be looking at four or more TD’s in the next six weeks. Denver’s offense is so potent with Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, that there is no way teams can stack the box aginst them. Of course, Shannahan might only give him ten carries a game and split the rest of the carries between the other RB’s on the roster but the potential for Torain to blow up is just too enticing to pass up. If you are like me and have that one roster spot reserved for add/drops alone, take a chance on Torain. You might be surprised with the results.

The real question is when will Marcus Camby show up?  I have had Camby on most of my fantasy squads over the past few years.  I’ve had him for full seasons and I’ve also had him for injury plagued seasons.  This season is not starting off on the right foot (no pun intended) with Camby likely to miss the season opener with a heel injury.  He is targeting Friday for his season debut but who knows if that is realistic or not.  The last thing the Los Angeles Clippers want to do is rush him out there and have him injure himself more than he already is.

Camby is an absolute force on defense and all around rebounding, possibly the best defender in the game next to Josh Smith when it comes to fantasy value.  He’ll even get you assists and steals and coming from the center position, that is huge. Read the rest of this entry »

I am currently in a yahoo! head to head fantasy basketball league with a few friends and some friends of friends.  The rules of the league are fairly simple.  We play with only five categories, PTS, REB, ASST, STL and BLK.  We start two guards, two forwards, one center and one utility.  Each category win/loss counts as a win/loss on your overall record.  For example, if I win PTS, STL, and BLK in week one, my record would be 3-2.  The league does allow ties and standard yahoo! tiebreakers are used to solve any problems.

My team currently consists of Jason Kidd, Mo Williams, Paul Pierce, Amare Stoudemire, Marcus Camby, Joe Johnson, Corey Maggette, Richard Jefferson, Rajon Rondo, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wilson Chandler and Jamaal Tinsley.  In week one I have Pierce and Williams starting at guard, Stoudemire and Jefferson starting at forward, Ilgauskas starting at center and Maggette at utility.  My opponent has Mike Miller, Mickael Pietrus, Josh Smith, Rudy Gay, Al Jefferson and Michael Beasley starting with Ray Allen, Vince Carter, Emeka Okafor, Rudy Fernandez, Andrei Kirilenko and Sean Williams on his bench.  This is a weekly roster lock league so Sunday night is the deadline to set your lineup for the following week starting Monday.
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Wilson Chandler of the New York Knicks is being compared to Shawn Marion by new Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni in a roundabout way.

“The guy that jumps out is Shawn Marion, he’s what we’d like him to be” D’Antoni said.

D’Antoni feels that Chandler has the athletic ability to play a similar role to what Shawn Marion played in the Phoenix Suns lineup.  Obviously Chandler won’t put up the same numbers that Marion was able to put up but can be seen as a poor man’s version of Marion and have some serious fantasy value.  He isn’t opening the season as a starter as Quentin Richardson is penciled in as the starting SF, and Richardson is no stranger to a fast paced D’Antoni run team.  In the ‘04-’05, Richardson flourished while playing his lone season in Phoenix.  However, there are plenty of minutes to go around in a D’Antoni system.  Chandler has been showing off his athleticism all preseason with per game averages of 12.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.2 SPG and 1.2 BPG.  He is definitely worth rostering in 12 team leagues on sleeper potential alone.  You can expect him to carry over his preseason averages into the regular season with the possibility of adding to them as the season and his knowledge of the new system progresses.

He isn’t on your Big Board.  He isn’t even in your thoughts on draft day.  He isn’t even allowed to practice with his current team.  Jamaal Tinsley has worn out his welcome in Indiana.  Not so much for lack of skills or on-court production, but mostly for being prone to injury, a large chunk of change left on his contract and multiple off-court issues.  In the past few days I have read about possible trades to Denver and Miami.  Need I say more?  When healthy, Tinsley can be a very solid PG when it comes to fantasy value.

Tinsley averaged over 8 assists last year for Indiana.  Can you imagine what he could do feeding Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson or Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion (and don’t forget Michael Beasley)?  His shooting skills are not top notch but in either of those two offenses he wouldn’t be required to score as much.  He could just sit back and get you 9-12 assists per game with 1-2 stls (2-3 with Denver’s fast paced approach), 10-15 pts, 1-2 threes…  As long as he is healthy (and playing), Tinsley should be on somone’s roster.  If you have room for him on your bench I suggest picking him up.  The Pacers are NOT going to keep him on the roster.  They have already replaced him with T.J. Ford.  He will be traded and when it happens, you will be thanking me.  What’s the worst that could happen?