00-01 PRESEASON NOTES THE SECOND WEEK 10/09/00 - 10/15/00  These are emailers that were sent out during the preseason. To receive similar emails during the regular season subscribe to the HoopsKlyce Fast Break regular season emailer. Subj: Robert Traylor and two rookies Date: 10/15/00 1:09:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time In the following article it is projected that Robert Traylor will be the starting power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers. http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/cavaliers/20001010.html Traylor is similar to Oliver Miller in that his weight has been a concern and that factor adds an element of risk to adding him to your fantasy team. I read that he had a solid off season in the summer leagues but also that he showed up to camp heavy. His has decent per minute career stats not only for points and rebounds but also for blocks and steals. So far in the preseason he is averaging 15.5 pts and 8 rpg in only 26 mpg. He also does not have a lot of competition at the power forward position. I have decided to increase his projected stats in the rankings. I typically do not project stats for rookies taken beyond the first half of the first round of the NBA draftsince they very rarely have fantasy value in their rookie year but I want to point out a couple players taken later in the first round: Morris Peterson has been getting favorable reviews in Toronto. The problem with his fantasy potential is that Vince Carter is slated to play the shooting guard position with Peterson playing behind him. But I do not have a lot of faith in the projected starting small forward for the Raptors Corliss Williamson and if he falters I can see the Raptors moving Vince back to small forward and starting Peterson at shooting guard if he continues to progress. So far in the preseason Peterson is averaging 13 ppg in 25 minutes although shooting only 43% through three games. Williamson is playing 28 mpg but getting only 10 pts and 4 reb. Peterson is getting 5 boards per game. The Raptors may want someone with three point range playing the three spot further threatening the playing time of Williamson. Quentin Richardson is slated to back up Tyrone Nesby at shooting guard for the Clippers. In three preseason game Richardson is second on the Clippers (Darius Miles is first) in scoring averaging 13 pts per game although shooting only 37%. Richardson also has a reputation as a solid rebounder for a guard. I still would not recommend drafting Richardson and Peterson since they are not projected to start and not too much weight should be given to preseason games. But I think they both have the potential to develop into decent players and if the starter falters or gets hurt they could have fantasy value. By the way, for those with AOL, STATS INC has a nice preseason area which can be reached with keyword "stats bk" and then it is a link in the upper left hand corner. I find the STATS box scores are excellent simply because they put a players entire stat line in the row next to their name. It is annoying to me when a box score lists stats such as blocks and three pointers below so that I have to scroll down to get the entire statistical performance for a player in a game. Subj: Centers and your depth chart Date: 10/14/00 5:00:51 AM Pacific Daylight Time Arvydas Sabonis will miss at least the first few weeks of the NBA season after arthroscopic revealed torn cartilage in his left knee. We should get a good idea of Alonzo's prognosis early next week. Shawn Bradley is in a contract year and had favorable reports in the offseason on his conditioning. He is slated to come off the bench for the Mavs this season to try to keep him out of foul trouble but if he can somehow be inspired by a new contract perhaps he may do a little more than just block shots this season. He had 20 pts and 10 reb in 26 minutes against Phoenix. Another potential fantasy center to watch is Erick Dampier of the Warriors. He had 10 reb in 23 min last night. Tsakalidis, the Suns' first-round pick, sprained his right ankle in the third quarter last night and did not return. I am not expecting he will have much fantasy value anyway. Potential Sleeper Rashard Lewis had 18 pts and 10 rebs. A subscriber asked me about the fact that Vince Carter was ranked ahead of Kevin Garnett on his depth chart when he felt most managers in his league would take Garnett before Carter. I advised the subscriber to go ahead and take Garnett particularly if he thinks he is more valuable. Use the depth chart as a guide. If you think a certain player is ranked higher than other managers would believe let the play slip in your draft. Tim Duncan is ranked lower this season than last season when he was typically number one or two. This is to reflect the risk associated with him coming off an injury. If you feel comfortable that he is fully recovered from his injury and are not concerned about the injury risk you can always bump him up a bit on your depth chart. Subj: Preseason Statistics Site Date: 10/13/00 1:23:20 PM Pacific Daylight Time The following site has a nice summary of preseason stats for your reference. http://home.rmi.net/~doug/ Subj: Some sleepers and notes Date: 10/12/00 7:25:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time Glen Rice has been getting to the free throw line in his preseason games. That is a good sign for his fantasy value. Jalen Rose will be out four to six weeks with a broken wrist. Evan Eschmeyer had a decent first preseason game keeping alive his chances of being a sleeper pick. He had 8 pts, 10 reb, and 3 bl in 24 min. With Kerry Kittles and Lucious Harris out for the Nets, Kendall Gill should get plenty of playing time and this could result in him being a nice pick on draft day considering how he can fill up the steal category. He had 7 steals in his first preseason game to go along with 14 pts. Watch out for his brick laying sessions though. He can keep up with Marbury in that department. Brian Grant appears to have a lot of pent up energy from sitting on the bench a season in Portland. With Zo potentially out, his numbers could be huge. Jermaine O'Neal so far remains on track to be a draft day sleeper. 12 points and 10 board in his first game. I read that Desmond Mason will be the starting shooting guard for the Sonics. Mason had a nice summer league and will at least take a big chunk of playing time from Brent Barry. Here is some feedback from subscribers: This first is regarding Craig Claxton and the second regarding the Dallas rookie who had a nice night. Hoops: Being the official timekeeper at Hofstra University, I had the extreme privilege for four years of watching Speedy Claxton, a classy, bright individual who matured into a very special basketball player. Speedy is getting rave reviews out of Philly (check out PhillyBurbs.com) and when on the court at the same time with Allen Iverson, will be tough to defend. He also plays exceptional defense and jumps to the heavens. I'm sure it will be the objective of many opposing coaches to try to exploit the size mismatch with Iverson, however, the big guards will not be able to guard these fellas. I don't think you realize the speed and quickness of Claxton. He gets into the lane at will. But I think the Iverson/Claxton tandem will not be able to stay on the court for long stretches against two big guards. Victor P. Sparaccio Hoops: A link for information on Najera. I saw the game; he literally did out hustle everyone on the court. Given that the Rockets have been weak on rebounding for years tempers my enthusiasm. http://www.startext.net/news/doc/1047/1:MAVERICKS41/1:MAVERICKS411011100.htm David Vandersand Subj: Projected Starters Date: 10/11/00 8:38:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time The Sporting News NBA Team Report section has recently been updated with each team's beat writer projecting the starting five. I think it is a pretty good reference to look at if you are wondering the role of certain players. Here is the URL: http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/ Subj: Notes from Early Preseason Games Date: 10/11/00 4:04:05 AM Pacific Daylight Time There were seven preseason games last night: http://espn.go.com/nba/today/sco.html Some notes from this action as follows: Tim Duncan is a player to watch in the preseason since like Grant Hill he is coming back from an injury. The following article indicates that Tim Duncan is on the right track in terms of returning to full strength. http://www.mysanantonio.com/spurs/ Grant Hill on the other hand did not participate in the Magic's preseason game. It looks as if Tracy McGrady is seeking to establish himself as The Man in Orlando at least while Grant Hill is not on the floor. In 26 min he took 18 shots from the floor and went to the line 13 times. He ended with 24 pts and 8 reb. As indicated in the player report I have some concerns about the fantasy potential of Marcus Fizer due to a lack of contributions in non-scoring categories. Last night he did not alleviate these concerns by getting 2 reb, 0 bl, 0 st, and 0 ast in 25 min. John Amaechi showed a little shot blocking last night with three in 23 minutes. Last season he blocked only 0.5 shots in 21 mpg and got only 3.3 rpg. If he can improve in these areas his fantasy value will improve. Steve Francis played 40 min in a preseason game! As your report shows I expect he will be huge this year. Second draft pick Ed Najera for Dallas was 9-10 for 23 points and had 9 reb before fouling out. Probably a case of no one putting a body on him but will keep my eye on him. Erick Dampier who disappeared because of injuries last season grabbed 9 reb before fouling out in 20 minutes. For those looking for a center at draft time he could be a guy to track. Stromile Swift's first two preseason games have him moving up the depth chart. Realize though that the Grizzlies will probably start the season with Othella Harrington as the starter and then transition to Swift sometime during the year. Subj: Preseason Box Scores Date: 10/10/00 4:14:01 AM Pacific Daylight Time   The preseason games started last night with Seattle vs Vancouver. Remember to not overreact too much to some of these early games. Here is a link you can use to view box scores for preseason games. Not ever site publishes the preseason box scores. http://espn.go.com/nba/today/sco.html Subj: Grant Hill and Mike Miller Date: 10/9/00 6:49:16 PM Pacific Daylight Time I have been trying to get a feel for the condition of Grant Hill now that training camp has begun and the news I have read has not been that great. As described in the following articles, Hill is not 100% and may not be 100% for the entire season. http://orlandosentinel.com/sports/1006magic.htm http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/magic/ Those valuing Hill as if he will put up the same stats as last year could be making a big mistake. The more I see, the more I have been taking down his Hill's ranking. On the other hand, the rookie Mike Miller has been impressing the Magic as discussed in the following article: http://orlandosentinel.com/automagic/sports/2000-10-08/SPTpovtak08100800.html My initial projections for Miller were modest but considering his positive news and the potential for a greater opportunity for him with Grant Hill slowed I will probably increase his rating. It will be interesting to see how he does in the preseason games.   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