I'm going to be brutally honest with myself like I always try to be. I tried my best and failed miserably. My picks this week were nothing short of horrible. The one good pick I did make came at about 9:30 p.m., the night before the game. He was a late add, my third for the day, and I knew I had to get him on here to have any success this week. Aaron Brooks' great game last week against Dallas was as close to a sure thing as you'll get in this game.
This week's picks make last week's look like two of the best streams of the year, which they most definitely were not.
What follows is a short chronicle of how I failed with each pick. Excuses will run wild and I promise you it can't/won't get any worse than this. Each pick turned out to have the worst game he possibly could have. Sometimes that's how it goes when you're streaming in deep leagues. You miss a lot of the time because of the lack of talent you're dealing with. In year's past when I was streaming I never had a log to reflect back on to know just how much I missed, but if I did I don't think I would have had a week as flooded with flaws as this one.
Warning: What is underneath this line you might find very painful to witness. If you have a strong gag reflex it might be best to turn away now.
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Feb 18 — Mo Evans: Old Mo...remind me never to pick him again. He found himself with only two extra minutes in the absence of Flip Murray. That part is all on me as I promised us more out of him. The one positive thing that came out of his performance was he made good on my promise of two treys and two steals. The sad part is he actually had a much better game than he averages, but it just wasn't enough.
Feb 17 - JaVale McGee: Thus we begin the long list of excuses this week. I was not expecting Andray Blatche to be back in the lineup when I made this pick.
This was what I found on Rotoworld on Feb 16th — Source, Washington Post: "Andray Blatche, who has missed nine straight games with a strained left knee, participated in Monday's practice but will not play against Minnesota on Tuesday"...Source, Rotoworld's Opinion:"Coach Ed Tapscott said he wants to see Blatche go through at least one more practice before testing the knee in a game, so Javale McGee should be a decent play on Tuesday night. It initially sounded like Blatche would play, but he apparently still needs more time."
I can't blame myself for this one. As I stated in my post, McGee had been playing well and had a relatively favorable match-up.
The Sleeper Line: 13 minutes, four points (2-of-3 shooting), two rebounds, one block, one steal and three turnovers.
Hindsight Performance Meter: 2
Feb 18 — Mo Evans: Old Mo...remind me never to pick him again. He found himself with only two extra minutes in the absence of Flip Murray. That part is all on me as I promised us more out of him. The one positive thing that came out of his performance was he made good on my promise of two treys and two steals. The sad part is he actually had a much better game than he averages, but it just wasn't enough.
The Sleeper Line: 24 minutes, nine points (2-of-7 field goals, 3-of-4 free throws), two rebounds, one assist, two steals, two 3-pointers.
Hindsight Performance Meter: 4
Feb 19 — C.J. Miles: Another disappointer. I already covered him in explaining my need for a Super Sleeper. I'll just repeat it in a new way. He had a bad game after coming off of good games. He was going up against a tough defensive squad. My lone excuse is on a day with only four teams playing he seemed to be clearly the best option. I wasn't expecting Jason Maxiell to nearly attain a double-double when he averages approximately five and four.
The Sleeper Line: 23 minutes, two points (2-of-5 shooting), two rebounds, one assist, one block, one turnover.
Hindsight Performance Meter: 1.5
Feb 20 — The unprecedented three picks...all from the same game
1) Von Wafer: He had the opportunity but just couldn't his a shot. I saw a decent portion of this game and Rick Adleman just couldn't play him. His shooting was that off.
The Sleeper Line: 16 minutes, three points (1-of-7 shooting), two rebounds, one assist, one 3-pointer, one turnover.
Hindsight Performance Meter: 1
2) Antoine Wright: He played well early, scoring most if not all of his points in the first quarter, but J.J. Barea could not be kept off the court in this one, thus the ball was out of his hands a lot from that point on and he lost his chance to shine. Hey, my first pick to score in double digits. How sad.
The Sleeper Line: 34 minutes, 11 points (5-of-11 shooting), two points, two rebounds, one 3-pointer.
Hindsight Performance Meter: 3
3) Aaron Brooks (Super Sleeper): What more can I say? His first game in the post Alston era was a smash hit. I've been on top of him most of the season even writing this in my JWW Preseason Studs edition: "I may be reaching very deep here but it’s hard to deny his potential, which is coming to fruition this preseason. I don’t expect a whole lot out of him with Alston in front of him but expect the young point guard to eat into those minutes as the season wears on and hopefully earn closer to a split role come March and April. If 'Skip' goes down this point guard of the future could become the one of the present and not relinquish control."
It didn't go down like I thought it would, but the end result was the same. He's going to be one of the best WW pickups for the second half of the season and I only wish I could use him every day of the week. Nough said!
The Super Sleeper Line: 34 minutes, 19 points (7-of-15 FG's, 2-of-3 FT's), six rebounds, eight assists, three 3-pointers, two steals, four turnovers.
Hindsight Performace Meter: 9.5
Feb 21 — Thabo Sefolosha: Ahh, back to reality. Sefolosha's first game in a Thunder jersey was one to be forgotten from a fantasy standpoint. He played solid defense as he does on most nights, but the ball was in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green's hands all night. He never stood a chance. Still a situation worth keeping tabs on, but I learned one thing through this experience. Being traded to the Thunder aint the same thing as being traded to the Bobcats. On a side note: I hate rooting for anyone to succeed against my Warriors.
The Sleeper Line: 18 minutes, zero points (0-of-3 shooting), one rebound, zero assists, two steals, one turnover.
Hindsight Performance Meter: 1
Feb 22 — Leon Powe: And the last sleeper of the week brings us to my biggest disappointment. I had high hopes for Powe in this one. Going up against a Suns squad with no Amar'e Stoudemire, all the signs of a big game were there. But in the C's first game without Keven Garnett, Doc Rivers started Brian Scalabrine to the tune of 14 points, ruining my shot at salvaging any kind of decent week. I can't figure out why Powe sat most of the game and failed to start. My guess would be Rivers wanted to stretch the Suns defense going up against their small lineup. I dunno. What I do know is I won't give up on Powe based on this one outing. I may even use him again next week if a favorable match up arises. There's too much potential there for my boy out of Oak Town.
The Sleeper Line: 15 minutes, five points (2-of-2 FG's, 1-of-5 FT's), six rebounds, one block, one turnover.
Hindsight Performance Meter: 2.5
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So here's to a much better review for Week 3 of Sleeper of the Day. Can't go much worse than this one.
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