Well actually, I think this one could be called "Who won/lost you your fantasy playoffs". These are mostly players that have served you well during the regular season and you counted on them to provide for you when the things get tough.
Some of them came through when needed, some of them didn't. Some of them you'll be picking out like a needle from a haystack come next years draft, and others, well... Let's keep things polite and just say we all learn from our mistakes.
So, let's take a look at who's been a valuable fantasy asset in the previous period, and who's been a disappointment. In other words, who's fantasy owners are smiling and are close to earning bragging rights for the next couple of months, and who's owners' throats have gone sore from swearing at their underachievers in these crucial times.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!Welcome to the Weekend 23 edition of fantasy NBA risers and fallers in the top-100 here at RotoBaller.
Weekend 23 Fantasy Basketball Fallers
FALLER - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (G, DET) – Now this is a case more curious than that of Benjamin Button. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hasn't really disappointed that much. Don't get me wrong, he hasn't been the same guy he's been for the most of the season, averaging just 13.2 PTS with 1.5 3PM on 34.1 FG% and 82.4 FT%, 3.3 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.o STL, no blocks and 1.5 TO in 33 minutes a game. But if you look around the league, even if you look just in his own Pistons, you can find a bunch of players who did a much larger number on their respective fantasy owners.
Now the main reason KCP is on this list is because he got pulled over for a DUI, and while we don't have the facts straight yet, a suspension might be coming. Furthermore, the Pistons don't play again until April 5, so no games for the rest of the week with the first one coming on Wednesday. So, KCP is a faller without really actually falling.
FALLER - Marcin Gortat (C, WAS) – With two of their starters, Marcin Gortat and our faller from last week Otto Porter, playing so poorly, it's amazing that the Wizards are still deep in the mix for the third spot in the East and have clinched their first Southeast Division since 1979.
Marcin Gortat hasn't double-doubled in 11 straight. Moreover, he has scored 10 points just once in that period, all of the other games - single-digits. In that time he is posting just 6.5 PTS on 48.6 FG% and an unrecognizable 36.4 FT%, 7.9 REB, 1.2 AST, 0.4 STL, 0.3 BLK and 1.2 TO in 22 minutes a game. All this from a guy who had 35 double-doubles in 65 games and averaged 11.5 points, 11.2 boards, 1.4 combined steals and blocks and was shooting 58.0% from the field and 67.4% from the line before this cold streak.
The Polish Hammer has gone rubber.
FALLER - Darren Collison (G, SAC) – After starting the fantasy playoffs with a double-double, posting 19 points with 13 assists, adding a couple of threes, steals and a block to the mix, back on March 13, Darren Collison has really taken a turn for the worst. He did have two decent performances since then, but he also sat out two games to cancel those out.
After the aforementioned great performance, his averages have spiraled down to 11.6 PTS with 0.3 3PM on 45.5 FG% and 86.4 FT%, 2.6 REB, 4.0 AST, 0.7 STL, no blocks and 1.6 TO in 28 minutes per game. Mind you, these are averages from his seven out of nine games Sacramento had played in that period. Those two rest days have additionally hurt his fantasy owners.
If you managed to claw your way to the fantasy finals with your sixth-seventh round pick (in standard leagues) playing like this during your playoffs, my hat is off to you good Sir!
Weekend 23 Fantasy Basketball Risers
RISER - Nikola Mirotic (F, CHI) - Nikola Mirotic got hot at just the right time for all his fantasy owners that have made the playoffs, or are in a close Roto league which is coming down to the last week-or-so. He's been decent for the entire playoffs, but we have to commend his last few performances even more.
In his last four games he has scored exactly 28 points three times and is posting a team-leading 24.8 points with team-leading 5.0 three-pointers on team-leading 68.5 field goal percentage along with team-leading 6.8 boards. He is also hitting 83.3% of his free throws, dishing out 1.5 assists, getting 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks and turning the ball over 1.5 times in 35 minutes a game. That's some great contribution to both his Bulls and all of his fantasy teams as well.
Furthermore, Chicago plays on Saturday and Sunday, so there are two more games this week for Nikola to make his owners smile.
RISER - Trevor Ariza (G,F, HOU) – Despite Houston losing three of their last four, two of which were against Golden State though, Trevor Ariza was magnificent in all of those games. His 17.3 PTS with 3.0 3PM on 55.6 FG% and 87.5 FT%, 4.3 REB, 3.0 AST, league-leading 4.3 STL, 0.3 BLK and 1.5 TO in 38 minutes per contest were enough for him to flirt with top-5 value in that span.
His owners must be delighted with his output as he has probably single-handedly won them the steals category, while contributing very selflessly in most of the other cats as well. If you're an Ariza owner and are close to winning your fantasy league, I have no doubt that you think very fondly of him and that he will be very high on your personal Pre-Draft Rankings next year.
RISER - Gorgui Dieng (F,C, MIN) – Another unexpected top-10 player in the last seven days, Gorgui Dieng has saved the best for last. And while his recent great efforts probably won't be enough for his Timberwolves to reach the NBA playoffs, they might just be enough for his fantasy teams to win their's.
In his last four games, the 27-year-old has averaged 14.3 PTS with 0.8 3PM on 51.2 FG% and 80.0 FT%, 8.8 REB, 3.0 AST, 1.5 STL, 2.5 BLK and 1.3 TO in 40 minutes a game. Those are some beautiful lines from the big man from Senegal. Supreme boost in boards, field goal efficiency and defensive stats, good contribution in points, free throw percentage, threes and assists, especially for a frontcourt player with a decent turnover rate. A Rotisserie league dream.
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