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This year’s NBA All Star game will feature some new faces and a returning All Star who missed his first appearance last year after going 14 straight. That guy is Shaquille O’neal, who was chosen by NBA coaches as he will play for the first time representing the Suns.

Here are the rest of the reserves for the West All Stars: Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki, New Orleans’ David West, Portland Trailblazers’ Brandon Roy, San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol and Denver Nuggets’ Chauncey Billups.

As for the east, their reserves are the two Magic players Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis, Toronto Raptors’ Chris Bosh, Indiana Pacers’ Danny Granger, Atlanta Hawks’ Joe Johnson, Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce and New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris.

I’m not surprised with the All Star reserves by the NBA coaches this year except for a few and a handful of players who were snubbed. It’s not that far away from my predictions two weeks ago but I don’t really like the pick of David West going to the All Star game this year. He did have an All Star season last year but this year he’s just borderline and another player deserves that spot. And where’s Mr. Steve Nash?

As for the East, I’m happy that Jameer Nelson has been chosen as a reserve. After years of frustration in the fantasy world with Mr. Nelson and time share and shooting problems in the actual game, he has finally gotten “it.” Hopefully he continues this and plays like an All Star not just this year.

So..Who were snubbed?

West

Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash
Minnesota Timberwolves’ Al Jefferson
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant

East

Boston Celtic’s Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Mo Williams
New Jersey Nets’ Vince Carter

Let’s just hope that this does not start an injury trend for the Milwaukee Bucks. With Andrew Bogut and Charlie Bell out the last couple of games, Milwaukee loses another starter, Michael Redd. But this time it will for the rest of the season. Redd injured his left knee in the third quarter of Saturday night’s game againt the Sacramento Kings at the Bradley Center.

He underwent and MRI the following day and learned that he had torn both the MCL and ACL.

“I’m deeply disappointed but everything in life happens for a reason and this is God’s plan for me,” Redd said in a statement issued by the team. “I have faith in my teammates and coaches to continue to work together to make our fans proud. I will be supporting them wholeheartedly from the sidelines and working equally hard to return to the court in the best condition possible for next season.”

The Bucks are 22-25 right and 8th in the East. Other players will have to step up if they want to hold on to their playoff spot.

Fantasy Impact

This, of course, isn’t good for any Michael Redd owners. After missing 14 games in November he’d have to sit out the rest of the season now. As the cliche goes, when one window closes another one opens and that other window is what you’ll have to find. You can find them in these players: Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell and Tyronn Lue.

When Redd was out during the start of the season, Sessions played a big role in the back court with Luke Ridnour. It looks like that that situation will happen again this time. So grab Sessions in your league right now if he is still available. He’s your man if you need assists and occasional steals. If he’s not available then Charlie Bell figures to get minutes and he is also a good pickup.

Damon Jones who has been rotting at the end of the Bucks bench might also get some minutes. If you’re in a twenty team league, Jones is worth a look since he could be a good source of threes.

We still don’t know what coach Scott Skiles will plan to do but Luc Richard Mbah a Moute played well during Redd’s absence and that was the time he was noticed in the fantasy world. He has been inconsistent lately but with the extra minutes being shared, it looks like Mbah a Moute will get some of those and hopefully become more consistent. This guy might not be in your waiver wires right now, but if you’re doing a trade maybe you could package this guy and sent to your team.

Alonzo Mourning, one of my favorite players in the NBA, has retired. He had been trying to come back from a devastating knee injury he suffered in 2007 but decided to leave the game. He’ll be leaving at the age of 38 but he won’t be forgotten as he had a wonderful career mostly with the Miami Heat.

“I truly feel it’s best that I retire,” he said. “When you’ve got something you love and you’re passionate about, it’s hard to let that go. But at 38 I feel I’ve physically done all I can for this game. It has been an amazing ride.

“It’s not a sad day, but it’s a day to celebrate. I can think of a million people right now that would have loved to walk the path I’ve walked. The ups and the downs made it even more joyous.”

The seven time all star is the Miami Heat’s best player and he was part of the Heat’s run to the championship in 2006. Fans won’t forget how this guy played and how much of a great person he is off the court. Of course other players won’t forget him too because they were victims of his blocks as this led him to winning the defensive player of the year honors twice.

What I admire about Alonzo Mourning is his toughness. This guy is a warrior. He had battled focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a career-threatening kidney disease in 2000. After a kidney transplant he was back on the court and doing what he does well and that’s wreak havoc on the defensive end.

The NBA needs players like Alonzo since he is just an inspiration when he plays. He plays with so much passion and plays great defense, which I think a lot of players these days lack.

In his 15 year career he averaged 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds a game for the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat and a short stint for the New Jersey Nets. He also averaged 2.8 blocks per game for his career after being taken 2nd overall in the 1992 draft.

Here are some Alonzo Mourning videos I saw on youtube.

This video was a talk he gave in November 2008 about him overcoming his kidney failure. Great video and very inspirational.

When an injury to a team’s starter occurs, it give their back up players an opportunity to shine. I say opportunity because it doesn’t necessarily translate into success. It still depends if he’ll be making the most out of his minutes like what Paul Millsap is doing now that Carlos Boozer is out. Here are some of the starting centers who are out with injuries in the past month and their back ups you can pick up. (more…)

Not only is Rudy Fernandez the 4th dunker in this year’s Sprite Slam Dunk Competition in Phoenix but he will also be the first international player to compete in this competition. Congratulations to him although I must admit that I voted for Joe Alexander.

According to nba.com, “With 251,868 votes in the online balloting, Portland’s Fernandez edged Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (147,279) and Milwaukee’s Joe Alexander (114,963) as the rookie representative.”

I’m really not sure how he will do in this competition against power dunkers like Dwight Howard, Rudy Gay and Nate Robinson but I really can’t wait to see. A lot of Fernandez’ dunks in the NBA are alley-oops from fellow country man Sergio Rodriguez, who will be taking a vacation during the break. (Rudy says thanks a lot for the support!)

I’m guessing that the dunk we will be seeing are mostly dunks that are smooth and gliding dunks. It’s been 13 years now since we last saw a player take off from the free throw line in the Slam Dunk contest, will we be seeing that kind of dunk from Rudy Fernandez this year?

They have similar body frames right? So it might be possible. If ever Rudy Fernandez wins this dunk competition it would really be sweet since it will not only crown him as the first international slam dunk champion in the NBA but it highlight more the dunk he did on Dwight Howard in the Olympics. Funny how Howard will also be in this competition. I’m thinking he’d like to use Rudy Fernandez as props to one of his dunks and he’d dunk on him really bad.

I’m starting to like Rudy Fernandez to win this competition. OK, I’m rooting for him on this one starting today. I’m even considering putting money on this guy. What do you think?

A very important part in winning fantasy leagues is knowing how to trade your players when they’re value is at their all time high and buying when other players are at their lowest. But sometimes we don’t get a chance to do this maybe because of an attachment to a player or for whatever reasons that is connected to our emotions. By the time we realize that we can let go of the player, that opportunity is already gone. Your player’s value might have dipped a bit or the other player has gone back to his great ways. So I bring you basketballmonster.com’s trade analysis.

Being an emotional guy for my fantasy basketball teams, I’ve had a hard time trading some of my players whether I get an offer or I’m the one offering. Good thing I found this site called basketballmonster and it has helped be a little rational with my trades. (more…)

This is my first ever Hot Off the Waivers: Players you can pick up section since I wanted to share with you who can help your team especially if you’re in a deeper league. We all know that being active in checking the waiver wires is a key ingredient to success in the fantasy basketball world. I won’t say much now since some of the other managers in your league might be reading this too and you wouldn’t want them beating you to a player right? So here are the hot pick ups you might want to consider for your fantasy basketball team: (more…)

After struggling his first two seasons after being selected first overall in the 2006 NBA draft, Andrea “ll Divo (The Magician)” Bargnani is finally producing. In his first two year he was filled with inconsistency, criticisms and poor play. But this year he looks to be starting to make his mark in the NBA.

In the last ten games as a starter, Bargnani has averaged 22.1 points a game, 6.1 boards and has made a total of 29 threes. What’s great is that he is shooting 58.9% in those games, which I had to check twice since he is just a low 40% career shooter.

He has been starting and getting minutes because Jermaine O’neal has been out with an injury. There would be a time split again when O’neal comes back but the good thing is that he is willing to come of the bench and let Bargnani continue starting.

Fantasy Analysis

I know that there are a lot of you out there either feeling good or feeling bad because of Bargnani. The reason you may be feeling good is that you were able to pick him up off waivers or you had the patience and not drop him. But I know a lot of people aren’t feeling good because of this guy since they dropped him just before he exploded. Don’t worry, I’m one of those guys who dropped him too. And now it’s coming to haunt us.

Anyway, despite (yup since O’neal will get minutes) the return of J.O. I still think Bargnani will continue his hot streak and will produce close to this the rest of the season. My reason is that he has become more confident with his shot and that can do a lot of positive things for a player. Jose Calderon, when he comes back, will also look for this kid in the offense and if they improve their record that would really boost his confidence.

I’m liking averages of 15 points, 6-7 rebounds, and over 2 threes a game the rest of the season. He should still continue his good fg% and that should be close to 50%. As I said, Calderon will get him the ball now and that would make it much easier for him to produce.

If he continues his play, I’m considering him as a keeper for next year if I have him in my leagues. But this depends on the number of players you will be keeping. With averages worthy of a mid round pick, that’s a great reason to keep him especially if your rule is that you lose the draft round above the player you keep. Another thing, J.O. is said to being shopped around, maybe for Shawn Marion, so this is better news for “The Magician.”

Good job to those who kept him when he was down and sorry to those who dropped him. Maybe we could find another gem in the waiver wires soon. Good luck to everyone!

Thanks to basketbawful.blogspot.com for this Tyson Chandler pic

The New Orleans haven’t been struggling but they just aren’t as good as last year. They could have been first place in the standings last year but this year they’re in 4th place. Yes, other teams have improved and the Hornets haven’t really gotten anything to bolster their lineup. In how I see it, it’s because Tyson Chandler played really well last year and his presence on the boards this year isn’t the same.

Chandler’s averages last year were 11.8 points and 11.8 rebounds and making 62% of his shots while this year it’s down to 9 points and 8.3 rebounds on 55.6% shooting. His stats haven’t been at par last year that yahoo forgot to include him as their top rebounder.

New Orleans Hornets on yahoo

In a fantasy perspective, Chandler has just been a 4-cat player at most. Just contributing to rebounds, fg%, block and a few points but this was last year when he was still averaging a double double. Right now, you he is still contributing to those stats but you could get players who have those stats drafted way after him.

Despite not having a great season, Chandler looks to be getting better lately as he is putting up three straight games with a double double. If he continues this pace he could somehow reach his averages a year ago and owners wouldn’t have to feel bad about getting him in the 5th-8th round this year. I know of someone in one of my leagues of drafting this guy in the 3rd round of a 14 team league. I can’t blame him for reaching since Chandler really played well last year.

Nothing left here to say about him only that if his play improves I’m sure that the Hornets will find some consistency and not alternate wins and losses and fantasy owners will be very much pleased. This is a great time for him to shine as this is where some fantasy teams pull away. Hope he’s on your team as Tyson Chandler returns to his old self (not the Bulls days).

Rondo in Deng in a Suns uniform..not bad!

Since the arrival of Steve Nash in the valley of the Suns, Phoenix has been one of the strongest teams in the West. They were well coached under Mike D’Antoni with his run and gun style of play and they had a great core with Steve Nash, Amar’e Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw. Half of that core is gone now and they have a new coach, Terry Porter, for this 2008-2009 NBA season and they also have new faces but not necessarily young legs. In fact, the two players, Shaquille O’neal and Grant Hill, they’ve traded for and signed the past two years are turning 37 this year.

Former MVP Steve Nash will be turning 35 this year, and wouldn’t it be nice if the Phoenix Suns had kept some of their first round draft picks that they’ve traded during draft night the past 4 years? (more…)