Thursday, March 8, 2012

Kate Upton showed up at the Oklahoma City Thunder game, causing teams on her side of the floor to shoot 39 percent, while the other side they shot a more respectable 49 percent. Yes, this qualifies as fantasy analysis.

Alonzo Gee kept his foot on the gas with 19 points, seven boards, three assists, four steals, one block, and one 3-pointer last night. He hit 7-of-12 shots from the field and should be owned in most 8- and 9-cat formats, as he could easily start for the rest of the year and is averaging a similar line since he took over the job.

Chris Paul hit 7-of-11 shots for 22 points with six rebounds, 10 assists, five steals, and three triples, and there hasn't been as much as a peep about his knee. I ranked him No. 3 on my draft list after he moved to L.A., but my concern about his knee might have deterred folks. I hope that wasn't the case for you. Randy Foye finally busted out of his slump, hitting 8-of-18 shots (including five threes) for 24 points. The Clips will monitor how he does and may still bring in another shooting guard, but for now Foye should be owned in 12-team leagues that reward 3-point shooting. If he doesn't fall off a cliff, he's on his way toward moving his current 38.5 percent shooting mark to his 41.1 percent career average.

Drew Gooden scored a season-high 27 points with six rebounds, two steals, a block, and two threes, making whatever wrist and back ailments he has look like blips on the radar. The bigger fantasy story, though, was Ersan Ilyasova 's career-high 32 points, 10 rebounds, two threes, and 14-of-18 mark from the field. He's returning early round value and this is definitely as good of a time to sell-high as any, but I don't know how Scott Skiles can justify not rolling with him going forward. His fantasy friendly game has finally come to fruition, and I'm exceedingly glad that I recommended him thoroughly while coming off the bench earlier in the year. He's a game-changer for owners.

Joakim Noah scored 20 points with 10 rebounds and two blocks and I'll certainly own my talk about him as a sell-high candidate. He bucked the pattern of trading off big games with Carlos Boozer and his early season struggles can barely be seen in the rear-view mirror.

Marcin Gortat kept things rolling and made good on his talk about blocks, with three total to go with his career-high 28 points, 11 rebounds, and one steal.

The Thunder were a fantasy pinball machine last night, with three guys scoring 30 points and Serge Ibaka scoring 18 points with 20 rebounds and three blocks. Russell Westbrook scored 31 points with 10 assists, four steals, and three triples, James Harden scored a career-high 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting with four threes, two steals, and two blocks, and Kevin Durant had 30 points, three steals, and two blocks. And because the Thunder have installed the patented stand-and-wiggle offense, Durant was visibly frustrated during the game's first half as his teammates took most of the shots. That's a story for another time, but this team that should win multiple championships won't get one until they figure out a simple post entry pass to somebody other than Kendrick Perkins .

Gerald Wallace had a very quiet 13 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists while hitting half his shots. But the bigger fantasy story was Raymond Felton scoring a season-high tying 23 points on 11-of-18 shooting with four rebounds, nine assists, and a three in his second game as the starter once again in Portland. I was feeling the heat for calling Felton a buy-low guy a few weeks back, but the team-wide implosion/most-recent indictment of media favorite Nate McMillan wasn't on my radar. The Blazers are still scuffling, but for fantasy owners it's not a bad situation for Felton. If he doesn't improve, McMillan is going to be fired, and if that happens he'll likely improve under the new coach that will push all the buttons that McMillan hasn't.

Jarrett Jack scored 25 points with three rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block in 33 minutes, and backup Greivis Vasquez also picked up the pace with 10 points, six boards, four assists, and a three in 23 minutes. I still like Vasquez as a stash that you can also plug in when you're in a pinch, and Jack should obviously be owned and likely started in most formats. Trevor Ariza also took advantage of the Kings' loose defense