HINDSIGHT SLEEPERS 1999-2000 SEASON 5/23/00 The following players were all probably undervalued in fantasy drafts last season making them nice sleeper acquisitions for their eventual owners. These are the types of players who can propel at a fantasy team to a first place finish. The trick is to try to identify these players before the season begins. To find out who HoopsKlyce expects to be undervalued next season order the HoopsKlyce Preseason Player Rating Report! Dirk Nowitzki - Nowitzki's rookie season provided much ammunition for critics of Don Nelson. The improvement Nowitzki showed in his second season may be largely responsible for keeping Nelson in his coaching position. Last season Dirk doubled his output in the points (17.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.5) categories and dramatically improved his shooting percentages. Although his steal and block numbers did not increase in proportion to his playing time, that is something he should improve upon next year. He was particularly valuable in leagues with the trey as he hit 1.4 bombs per game. In my league Nowitzki was picked up as a free agent after the draft. Jalen Rose - By averaging 18 ppg he became the first person other than Reggie Miller to lead the Pacers in scoring in quite some time. His previous season high was only 11 ppg. He also set career (this is his sixth season) highs in rebounds, steals, blocks, free throw percentage, and three point percentage (39.3%). In his first game of the season he scored 17 first half points and was quickly grabbed off the free agent wire in my league. Michael Dickerson - In the 99-00 season Dickerson's playing time increased only 6 mpg from his rookie season but he showed tremendous per minute increased in productivity. In particular, his contributions in the steal category increased from 0.5 pgm to 1.4 per game. His scoring also greatly improved from 11 ppg to 18 ppg. Over the last 11 games in April he averaged 22 ppg and may be overtaking Abdur-Rahim as the best offensive player on the Grizzlies. He also accomplished the rare feat of making a dramatic improvement in free throw percentage going from 64% his rookie year to 83% last season. Part of his an increased effectiveness came from driving to the basket more rather than settling for jump shots. Derrick Coleman - Hard to believe, I know, but despite missing 8 games Coleman was most likely undervalued at most drafts last season. I know he spent some time on my league' free agent wire as he averaged only 9 ppg in November. But from December through March averaged 19 ppg and ended with a career high of 1.8 bpg and 36% shooting from three point land. Jimmy Jackson - Despite playing with pain in his knee Jackson played 79 games and averaged 16.7 ppg for the year. . In his previous season he averaged only 8 ppg. Although he did not provide many assists or steals for a guard, he shot 39% from three point land and 88% from the line. Jerry Stackhouse - I was not too pleased to be stuck with Stackhouse with my seventh round pick in my draft but quickly changed my mind as Stack averaged over twenty points in each month of the season. He also got the line over nine times a game where he shot 82%. His 4 apg were a nice contribution as well from the shooting guard position. He ended up performing like a second round selection for my league categories. Previous Article Next Article Copyright © Hoops Klyce 2000 - All Rights Reserved Website Designed by Lelnet Failed to execute script '../cgi-local/ax.cgi': Win32 Error Code = 2