“BaseLINE of the Night”
February 24, 2012 Leave a Comment
For those of you who don’t know, this is a post I do every day or night that pays homage to the guys out there ballin’ hard and making their fantasy owners feel all warm and fuzzy inside. With only 4 games on the slate tonight, it was pretty much a typical Thursday and gave all the guys playing a great shot at winning the award in the last night before All-Star Weekend. Here’s the latest edtion of “BaseLINE of the Night” for Thursday, February 23rd, 2012.
Well with Kevin Durant on the slate tonight, could he be the top line for the third time in his last four games? He would have to beat out LeBron and Wade and the Heat and Kobe to do it. KD wasn’t going to let that deter him from keeping up this remarkable hot streak! He is absolutely on fire right now as he actually has been the top line in three of his last four games with the other game he had to “settle” for third best line. This is why this guy is taken first overall in many drafts. He gives you consistent all-around production, night in and night out and don’t expect anything less for the rest of the year. I mentioned before how I might need to start finding more highlights of Durant and I guess I really need to start having them pre-saved for a quick find. Check out his award-winning line tonight:
- 33 Pts (12-22 FG, 2-8 3PT, 7-7 FT)/4 Reb/6 Ast/3 Stl/1 Blk/2 TO
The Durantula strikes once again!
While Durant reigns supreme for a night (and pretty much the whole week), let’s take a look at the guys who came oh-so-close to being awarded the “BaseLINE of the Night” award. Rounding out the top 5 are:
2. LeBron James – 20 Pts (7-16 FG, 6-6 FT)/9 Reb/8 Ast/5 Stl/2 Blk/4 TO
3. DeJuan Blair – 28 Pts (12-21 FG, 4-4 FT)/12 Reb/3 Ast/2 Stl/1 Blk
4. Richard Jefferson – 17 Pts (5-8 FG, 5-7 3PT, 2-2 FT)/8 Reb/1 Ast/1 Stl
5. Metta World Peace – 9 Pts (3-3 FG, 3-5 3PT)/4 Reb/5 Ast/2 Stl
*Suprising Line of the Night*
- Danny Green (12% owned) – 16 Pts (6-12 FG, 1-5 3PT, 3-4 FT)/6 Reb/2 Ast/3 Stl/2 TO
Green has really grown a lot this year under Greg Popovich. Heading into the season, Danny was an afterthought for the Spurs. However, being that the Spurs have sustained a lot of injuries and Pops wants to rest his veterans for the playoffs, it has created a good opportunity for Green and he has taken advantage of it. He’s averaging career-highs in every single category except for FG%, granted he hasn’t played much in his career so far. He has also shown flashes of being an all-around fantasy contributor. At only 22 min a game, he is averaging 1.2 threes a game, 0.8 steals a game, and 0.8 blocks a game making him so close to joining a unique group of players that are so valuable in fantasy and that’s the 1-1-1 (threes-blocks-steals) club. If he were to get consistent starting role and 30+ minutes a night, he could definitely accomplish that. In the short term, expect Green to keep starting and getting decent time until Ginobili returns. Even still, his play will be inconsistent and once Manu comes back it’ll be interesting to see what his role is.
While these guys weren’t the best of the best, they certainly had their owners smiling after their performance. As I always say, In the words of Cleveland fans (myself included), “There’s always next year,” or, in this case, next game.
That’s it for this edition of “BaseLINE of the Night,” but make sure to check back tonight/tomorrow to see who takes home the award.
