MAIL BAG NOV 18th-25th   Sun, 25 Nov 2000 Q - Do you know what's up with Rodney Rogers? He only took one shot last night? A - I don't know of any injury. He may just be getting squeezed out of the rotation with Gugliotta back. Q - We need reb and blks. Would you trade Mobley for Dampier? Or would you trade Mobley for Weatherspoon? Any idea how bad R Lewis leg and Croshere ankle? Thanks alot A - I would try to do a little better than Dampier considering Mobley is a fairly valuable guy. Plus I am still concerned about how Dampier's knee will weather the season. As far as I can tell the injuries to Croshere and Lewis are not serious. Fri, 24 Nov 2000 Q - David my friend, In a P+R[*1.5]+A*1.5+S&B[*3]-TO[*2] Would you trade Wally Szczerbiak for DC? or Dale Davis? Who would you rather keep? Szczerbiak or Richmond? A - I am becoming increasingly concerned about the prospects of DC this year considering exactly how down Paul Silas is on him because of his weight. I would not bet on DC coming back like he played last season. Think I would keep Wally over Davis as well. As Sabonis gets back into shape Davis will play less. Richmond and Wally have similar value although Mitch has been hot lately. I think I would lean towards Wally here to since he can sometime have nice rebounding games and is younger although he has had some injury problems. Q - Hoops, Mookie was just cut in my league and now is a free agent. I need assists - I have Cassell and Jalen Rose as my biggest contributors. I was considering cutting Kendall Gill - I have him at $18 and using that money for Blaylock. Neither is worth that money, but do you think Gill is just off to a slow start - may be worth more than he is showing and worth more than Mookie? Thanks Hoops, Steve Clapp PS - Thanks for the advice on Olowokandi. I held on to him and put him on reserve. A - Mookie missed the past couple games with a stomach virus after being off in a game. That may be why the previous owner waived him. He is still getting 7 apg on the season. Bob Sura was recently activated by the Warriors and he will take some of Blaylocks time which is not really a bad thing since Mookie was logging too many minutes - up around 40 mpg. When Vonteego Cummings comes off the IL in a couple weeks it may take a bigger hit out of Blaylock. If you need assists and can simply waive Blaylock later if necessary I would take him. Others emerging in the assist area lately are Jacques Vaughn. Gill is OK but wont give you the assists you need consistently. Thu, 23 Nov 2000 Q - Out of these F's who do you think has the most season-long value (and what order would you pick them up) in a PARSB - TO league: Ruben Patterson, Chris Mills, Tony Battie, Laphonso Ellis, Cedric Ceballos. Thanks for the input. A - Battie would be first since he has picked things up a little lately - next would be a toss up between Patterson and Mills. Note that Patterson has been getting more playing time lately for Seattle. Ellis has too much injury history and Ceballos is out of shape and will be hurt by addition of Joe Smith Tue, 21 Nov 2000 Q - My roster consists of: Payton, Strickland, Best, Stojokovich, Webber, Weatherspoon, Van Horn, Ben Wallace, Jahidi White, Keon Clark We are a rotisserie style league with the categories being: Pts, steals, assists, blocks, total rebounds, FG%, FT% and 3s.I am thinking about trading Gary Payton I have been offered Vince Carter and Mutombo and Nash for Payton and Clark. I want to offer Payton for Kidd and Ratliff. Do any of these trades make sense to you?? Thanks in advance for your help!! Jeff Burton A - Payton is an outstanding player but getting Vince Carter, Mutombo, and Steve Nash for him and a throw in seems like a real good deal. Arguments can be made for Carter having a similar value to Payton. I am also concerned about the durability of Payton considering the number of minutes he has been playing and his recent strained relationship with his coach. The owner of Mutombo may be undervaluing him considering his slow start which is probably just Mutombo recovering from malaria. Mutombo also has the motivation of being in a contract year. The Kidd deals seems reasonable too, but I think Kidd's scoring will back down when Penny returns. In both of these deals I assume you need to drop someone - Ben Wallace seems like a good candidate since you may not need his blocks and reb anymore and since Joe Smith might take a bite out of his playing time.   Hoops, I have trade proposal that I am not sure about. Here is my team: Scoring - (P,A,R,S,Blk, TO) Karl Malone, Danny Fortson (C/F), Chris Webber (C/F), Larry Hughes, Paul Pierce (G/F), Baron Davis, Eric Snow, Austin Croshere, Predrag Stojakovic, Evan Eschmeyer (C), Jeff McInnis, Robert Traylor, Joe Smith (F/C), Sean Rooks (C) I am hurting at Center with Fortson & Webber out and I have been offered Elden Campbell(F/C) and Jimmy Jackson (G/F) for either Hughes or Davis. Would you even make this trade? If so which guard should I give up in the deal Davis or Hughes? Thanks for your help Tino Grippo A - It is my understanding Webber is ready to play again and Joe Smith just signed. This could provide relief. The trade seems reasonable to me though - you could always dump Traylor if you wanted to. Tough decision between Hughes and Davis - might want to hang on to Davis the way he has been playing. Hoops I'm looking for someone who can help with the loss of Danny Fortson. Who do u recommend I pickup for a glass man. - Gatling, Mo Taylor, Aaron Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Tony Battie, Tyrone Hill? A - Of this group I would prefer Battie with Williams second. Mo doesn't reb and Gatling not 100% healthy. Q - Would you drop Anthony Carter for Sabonis right now. A - Sabonis recently had a DNP - Portland is planning on cutting back his playing time in the second games of back to back or even resting him. I would hang on to Anthony Carter to see if Hardaway actually plays in the Heat's next game since he missed a game. Hardaway says he will play but you never know. When Hardaway is out Carter is a good guy to have on your team. Mon, 20 Nov 2000 Hoops, Hello again, thanks for a great season last year. I have the infamous Mr. Anderson - Shandon Anderson. I am trying to move him in a trade, but if I can't perhaps you can help with Free agency. My weakest categories are Rebounds and steals. Available are: L. Ellis - usually hurt, but he is playing rather well now. R. Patterson - also available, but possible of the court problems. Sean Elliot - Consistent minutes if nothing else. On a different note, I have Brent Barry, but am thinking dropping him and picking up B. Stith in Boston. Also available in FA at Guard are Herren and Wahad. Your thought are appreciated. A - You probably can't get much for Anderson at this time. I read that Francis favors Mobley over Anderson and is not getting him the ball. Stith is starting right now and might be able to help you in the steal category. Q - Are Toni Kukoc's minutes still being hampered by injury? Or is it just that he's buried in the Sixers rotation behind George Lynch? Do I hold on to Kukoc, and hope for better things in the future? Or do I cut him and pick someone else up (there isn't anyone too attractive available in our 13-team, 13-player league, though Anthony Carter would make sense for my team, which also has Tim Hardaway.)? Thanks in advance for your help, Kris Olson A - Kukoc is buried behind Lynch right now and the Sixers are winning. He could get buried a little more when Geiger returns. But considering the depth of your league I would still hold on to him. He is still in the top '169' and he could perk up at some point. Q - I have an excellent squad, however my league's rookie rule is killing me. I have Fizer and his minutes are dwindling. Can you give me your thoughts on Rook's that will get some Playing time this year? Any sleepers?? Steve A - The Lakers Penberthy scored 13 yesterday. Take a look at him. Note his minutes could disappear at any moment. Phil Jackson wants him to be a Steve Kerr type of shooter. Another consideration is Dan Santiago for the Suns. Other emerging rookies are Jamaal Magloire of Charlotte and Eddie House of Miami. Good luck - it's a tough year for rookies fantasy wise. Sun, 19 Nov 2000 Q - I subscribe to your service and am in a basic scoring league (Pts + R + A + S + Bl - TO). On average, we play 3 players at G and F, and 2 at C a week. I have depth at G (Payton, Van Exel, R Strickland, Mobley, Kendall Gill, Terry). I am weak at F (Mcdyess, Croshere, G Rice, B Outlaw). I am considering trading Mobley for Gugliotta. What do you think of Googs' will average for the rest of the season (minutes, pts, reb, asst, st, bl) and would you do the trade? A - I would not do this trade. I have concerns that Googs won't break the 20 mpg mark particularly the way Marion is playing. Hang in there - I think McDyess might improve and same with Croshere. Not a bad idea to trade Mobley but not for Googs. Q - How's it going? Hope your season is working out well. I think we both had Ray Allen and he started slow, he still can do better than he has even though he's had a couple of big games. Question: I may be able to get Andre Miller ($10 in our keeper league) for Bibby ($32). I like both guys and Miller's low price appeals to me. Would that deal be worth it? I know they're similar. A - Bibby needs to be three times better than Miller considering his price in your league - he is not. I feel Miller is a slow developing future star so I think to get Miller for that price is a good deal. Allen has started slower than expected - I think the fact that the Bucks have four other guys who can score has taken a bite out of Ray's value - those guys are Big Dog, Cassell, Tim Thomas, and Lindsey Hunter. Remember one nice thing about Ray is that he has NEVER missed a game...so his value is a little more than his per game stats would suggest. Sat, 18 Nove 2000 Q - Do you think Stith is worth picking up? A - I do. The Celtics really need his offense I think he feels he has something to prove. Also he is starting! Note his time/production may go down when Kenny Anderson and Adrian Griffin return but they are not there now. Stith also is an injury risk. Q - I am in a P, A-T, R, S, B, 3, FG%, FT% league with 12 teams of 13 (10 starters). I have a trade offer: I receive Steve Francis and Predrag Stojakovic and trade away Mike Bibby and Theo Ratliff. The numbers work out as follows (based upon your update this afternoon). These numbers make it a 5/3 trade, I pick up in 5 categories and lose in 3. The FG is not weighted, so that may be misleading. Essentially we are trading blocks for points, steals, and threes. Not that we are looking for steals and threes, but they are good stats to have, and harder to come by than boards. I should have good blocks if E. Brand steps up and D. Coleman returns and stays healthy. In combination with one a night from A. Croshere and V. Carter, that should suffice. My real question still is will Stojakovic keep up this pace such that it is a good trade, or will he fade and make me regret it? Or, have I missed the real question and there is another read to make, or not to make, this trade? A - I looked at the fantasy rating of the players in this trade for your categories Bibby 32 Ratliff 45 Stojo 52 Francis 48 I think Stojokovic is the real deal but his numbers have been somewhat elevated by a combination of Webber missing a couple games and defenses not quite prepared for the improvements he made in the offseason. Taking 15% off his score brings him to about 45. On the other hand I feel Bibby is playing below his potential. Adding 15% to his score gives him about 37. I think Francis is playing below his potential offensively but lets leave his rating where it is - Ratliff also is doing what you expect. Adjusted totals are 93 for Stoj and Francis and 82 for Rat and Bibby. Provided you don't get killed in the block category seems like you get the better in this deal by getting Stoj and Francis. Realize DC was just put on IL.   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