Dear RotoRob: Nyet on Mehmet
We received several season-ending letters from our basketball readers this week, mostly related to our Daily Dose wrap-up, in which we picked the fantasy studs and duds of each NBA team.
Dear RotoRob,
Typically I don’t quibble and just enjoy the articles, but Mehmet Okur over Andrei Kirilenko for Utah’s “dud” is arguable and Jason Kapono over Andrei Bargnani for Toronto is just flat out wrong. Bargnani was drafted by many to be a No. 2 centre and taken as early as the fifth round, while Kapono was a back-up forward at best and wasn’t drafted in many leagues.
I definitely commend the rest of the picks for duds since they are guys that hurt squads and weren’t just nobodies.
Nashua
Hi Nashua,
You weren’t the only one to suggest that AK-47 should have gotten the call as the Jazz dud (see below), but here’s my reasoning:
While Kirilenko still hasn’t come close to getting back to his peak years (2003-04 to 2005-06), he was much better than last season’s disaster. Note that AK-47 set career highs in FG percentage and 3-point percentage, played more games, got more PT and, other than his blocks, everything else was up. Yes, his rebounding numbers were again greatly disappointing, but Kirilenko was up in FT percentage, steals, assists and points.
Okur, on the other hand, while hardly a major flop, did backslide for the second straight year. First off, for the first time since arriving in Utah, he wasn’t durable, missing ten games. Additionally, he experienced declines in MPG and blocks (he’s almost a non-factor in this department now). His free throw attempts per game were down significantly as was his scoring (a decrease of 3.1 PPG). Hence, he got my vote.
As for the Raptors, I agree that Bargnani could have easily taken this one, especially given the expected growth in his sophomore year. However, he stayed healthy, improved his FT shooting and saw an improvement in his assists. Was his year a disappointment? Yes, absolutely. But Kapono completely tanked, and simply didn’t play enough to be of use except in super deep leagues. Like I said, Bargnani is an excellent choice, and now that I look again and consider everything, I am swayed that he probably screwed more owners than Kapono’s precipitous fall did.
Dear RotoRob,
Just wanted to let you know that I had Okur on my fantasy team this year and right before the trade deadline in mid-march I received and offer of Al Jefferson for him. I would be stupid not to take it right? Well, because I am a Jazz fan I held off and Memo came up huge for me in the playoffs. Not only did he solidify my rebounding – he was in the top five in rebounding in the last three weeks of the regular season – but he allowed me to sneak out a huge upset in the semis because he helped me get the 3 pt category. That 3 pt category determined the victor.
Memo had a horrible stretch in the middle of the year, but when the playoffs came he was, as they say, “Money!”
I’d say the bigger dud on the Jazz this year was Kirilenko.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Fair enough, Okur’s stretch play was definitely a factor, but I was looking at the entire body of work. See above for a more complete description of that.
Dear RotoRob,
I won my championship and wanted to say thanks for giving me better advice than those guys at NBA.com. Y’all should really apply for their jobs.
Thanks to y’all I snatched Elton Brand and Brandon Roy off the waiver wires in addition to Chris Quinn, Ramon Sessions and Channing Frye.
Meanwhile Kobe Bryant, Andre Iguodala, Lamar Odom, Nick Collison, Shaquille O’Neal and Andris Biedrins brought home the title for me in a 12-team H2H league.
I’m 300 smackers richer. See y’all when fantasy football starts!
James
Hi James,
Y’all are welcome, my man! We’re here to help.
