We're Famous: Part 2

Jon, CA: We play Head-to-Head and are having issues with uneven Games Played and also, because we set up weekly lineups, injuries can take its toll. Which do you prefer?

(1) Weekly or Daily lineups. And one good reason why you chose one over the other.

(2) To just let Games Played balance itself out during the week -- there is no season cap. Or to set it up so weekly averages can be taken into effect -- which no provider currently can do.

Keith Lipscomb: It's a tough issue that every league has to deal with, but one thing I feel is important in fantasy basketball is demonstrating depth on your team. Many, many years ago I was in a league that used averages and weekly lineups. The problem with that was that you weren't penalized when one of your best players missed a game or two by having to sub in a lesser player and thus, bring your averages down.

So, to answer your questions, I like daily lineups which promotes depth and staying on top of your roster (provided you have good, dedicated owners). One thing I like about the leagues I'm in is we have a transaction limit so that teams aren't just rotating end-of-the-bench options each week to gain a few extra in "need" categories. We have it at 40 pickups for the season and no more than 3 in any one week, which still might be a little high but it helps with competitive balance.
-Wednesday's ESPN Chat-

Question from 10/30/2006

Recap: Week 9

Inter-Conference Games
6-3, Human Amoebas vs Buffy
4-4, Pooh Bears vs Chunky Monkeys
5-4, Funk Coalition vs Squirtle Squad
5-4, Fat Jubas vs The Poobic Heirs

Conference Games
5-4, Rhythm Drive vs MoRRie's Pogiboys
6-3, Phanatics vs Sour Snails
(statistics)

6-3, Human Amoebas vs Buffy
This could have been the Game of the Week but injuries are starting to pile up for Buffy. A dominant team when healthy, Buffy has Rashard Lewis injured, Chris Paul injured, Joe Johnson was injured, and um, the never used Shaq is still injured. Oh right, JR Smith has been out too, but he's feeling perfectly healthy. All of these injuries have played havoc with Buffy's lineup and despite the possible emergence of Tony Allen (himself a beneficiary of Paul Pierce's injury) -- 18.5 PTS, 6.5 REB, 3 AST, 1.75 STL, 1.25 BLK -- the team is headed toward a rough start to the new year.

It's time to give some shine to Rip Hamilton, who dropped in 51 points in a game on Dec 27, pushing him to 31.25 PTS for the week. Rip's got ridiculous percentages and he's able to contribute a little bit in the rebounding, passing, and steals departments -- and a tiny bit behind the arc (0.6 per). Many write off Rip as a one (or two) trick pony but I've always liked him quite a bit. He's consistent, never injured, and a proven winner, as playing on the Amoebas has shown.

4-4, Pooh Bears vs Chunky Monkeys
Two ties in nine weeks for the Monkeys. Twenty percent of the time this team suits up and takes to the floor, they leave with no decision. But hey, they're sitting pretty at 5-2-2 and sport the third best record in the league (as well as the highest Points For, if that means anything). The two teams were knotted up in the 3PT department, 26 each, even if it took the Bears six more games to accomplish their tie.

How do the Bucks have so many damn fantasy contributors? Ruben Patterson averaged 17.5 PTS, 7 REB and 4 AST. Mo Williams himself had 19.5 PTS, almost 6 REB/AST, plus 2+ STL and 1.5 3PT after winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Redd, Mo, Bell, Villanueva, and Bogut are all good to great lineup options -- the Bucks are the fantasy Suns of the East!

5-4, Funk Coalition vs Squirtle Squad
The two most active teams on the waiver wire went head-to-head last week and fought a hard battle in AST, STL and TO. Ultimately, the Funk was able to squeak out a win, mostly due to the Squirtles uncharacteristic poor shooting from the field and from the line -- 39.9% from the field is way below average for our best shooting team (normally 49.1 FG%).

Last week, we said that the return of Ray Allen and Brandon Roy would power this team to victories but instead, their 35.3% and 41.3% field goal shooting (along with K Garnett's 37.9%) doomed the Squirtles to just their second loss of the season. Funk continues to win despite Carmelo's absence and it's mostly due to Earl Boykins picking up the scoring slack at 24.5 PTS and 2 3PT a game. With this win, Funk takes over the mantle as the hottest team in the league with three straight wins -- but they are still far off the six straight win streak the Squirtles had been riding.

5-4, Fat Jubas vs The Poobic Heirs
One team's loss is another team's gain. The Jubas become the top team in the league with a Squirtles loss and their win over a Yao-less (but in the lineup) Heirs team. The Jubas scored one more point than the Heirs -- 612 to 611. You don't think Yao's replacement wouldn't have scored more than one point? Don't be crazy. Kobe gave it his all (34 PTS avg) but he couldn't quite push the Heirs to a win without the services of Yao and Monta Ellis.

Of course, the Jubas made a lineup gaffe of their own as Tracy McGrady rode the pine despite four healthy games. So let's call this a matchup of two owners still sleeping after their Christmas feasts. One guy who has been awake and alert is Josh Howard, who averaged 21.5 PTS, 10.75 REB, 3.25 AST and 1 STL/BLK/3PT last week. Wake up to deez!

5-4, Rhythm Drive vs MoRRie's Pogiboys
D-d-d-danger, watch behind you -- there's a stranger out to find you! The Pogiboys have come so close to near upsets of division rivals in the past two weeks (last week it was the East leading Squirtles). They are destined for a victory soon and if not for missing two rebounds at the end of the week, they would have toppled the behemoth Rhythm Drive. It looks like Gerald Wallace is back (22.5 PTS, 7.25 REB, 2 STL/BLK for the week) so that's a huge sigh of relief for Alvin -- wait, what? He's hurt again?! Insert Mumra roar-screech!

So, who got those two winning rebounds for Reno? It sure as hell wasn't Chris Bosh, who was in the lineup but nowhere close to actually playing. Apparently even his ghostly presence on the court is enough to scare opposing big men away from the boards. Brad Miller averaged a paltry 4 REB this week, is he the white Eddy Curry? Just kidding, we love Brad -- he just blocks like a sissy. Luol Deng's not playing like a girl, as he's on the verge of taking his game to the next level -- 20.25 PTS, 8 REB, and 56.9 FG% last week.

6-3, Phanatics vs Sour Snails
In a battle of futility, someone's got to win right? The Phanatics handled their fellow cellar dweller Sour Snails by edging them in PTS (506-504) and STL (44-41). The Snails are being ravaged by inconsistent play and lineup appearances, with Ron Artest, Jason Richardson, Larry Hughes and Wally Szerbiak all coming on and off the bench. Nash and Iverson are trying to pick up the pace but they can only do so much.

The Phanatics aren't exactly the picture of perfection either, with four of their top guys sitting the pine due to injuries (Pierce, Odom, Camby, D West). But hey, a win's a win and they'll take one wherever they can find it. This week, Desmond Mason and Richard Jefferson (both over 50.0 FG% and 18 PTS per) supported Vince "Air New Jersey" Carter to pick up a much needed confidence booster for the Phanatics.

Oh Poo(h)p

During the draft, I carefully monitored J's team because it looked so intriguing. Matrix and AK47 are fantasy stalwarts who are anything but ordinary on the score sheet. Putting a contending team around them would be interesting and require a deft touch. So far however, this team is anything but a contender. They've only won two games -- against two of the worst teams in the league (Sour Snails and Pogiboys) -- and things aren't looking much better. So, what's going on?

PTS, REB, AST: Well, right off the bat, nobody's going to confuse the Bears with an offensive juggernaut. They are ranked 9th in PTS; which is actually not too bad considering that none of their top picks are bonafide scorers -- the real question is, who the heck is ranked below them? Scoring was never going to be this team's forte anyway so that's okay. However, ranking a lowly 9th in REB hurts. This team should be strong on the boards in theory, but they've only got Marion and Chris Wilcox averaging more than six boards a game. It's not a good sign when the frail Tayshaun Prince is your third best rebounder (at 5.8 per). The team is pretty good in ASTs with Andre Miller (9.1 per), Brevin Knight (7.3) and Mike Bibby (6.0) all putting up excellent passing numbers but one more passing type, or more of a team effort, could push them over the top; above their current 6th ranking.

STL, BLK, 3PT: This is where the Pooh Bears were supposed to make their mark, STL and BLK. Marion and Kirilenko are both defensive machines and they should anchor the team there -- however, the team is only ranked a middling 6th in both categories. Marion and AK47 are putting up a little over 4 combined blocks per game, but there's no support from the rest of the team. And to be honest, the Mad Russian has been a bit of a disappointment this year, mainly in the scoring department, but also with his REB and STL numbers -- not even one steal per game. The potential for a good STL team is here but they're going to need someone else to help Marion and make up for AK47's lost production. Brevin Knight, Andre Miller, and the newly acquired Ruben Patterson are all fine ball thieves.

This team is essentially lost in 3PT -- ranked 8th -- especially with Peja Stojakovic lost for an extended amount of time. The one thing that the Miller/Knight point guard combo don't do is shoot from distance. Luther Head and his crazy 3PT could help here, but even with his possible 2.5 per game, this team is far from challenging the league leaders here. Ben Gordon runs very hot but he can also go very cold. Maybe Marion will find his stroke again but perhaps not -- 1.3 3PT isn't too bad from him regardless.

FG%, FT%, TO: The team is a combination of horrible shooters and great shooters. Patterson, Wilcox, Gasol, Childress, and Marion fall into the latter category, everyone else is poor to terrible. Bibby especially has been terrible (35.1%) but he should be much better. This oil and water mix translates to a ranking of 8th in FG%. The good news is that this team is pretty good from the charity stripe (ranked 5th) and the only terrible FT% shooters -- Wilcox and Patterson -- don't shoot enough free throws to make a huge difference. Keeping a careful eye on this category could make a big difference. The best news overall is that this team doesn't turn the ball over often -- except for Ben Gordon, who doesn't return the AST compared to his TO numbers. Everyone else either doesn't handle the ball much, or protects it religiously. Good for fourth in the league.

Bench: For the most part, the bench has been an ER room. Peja is down for the count. Josh Childress has been out for most of the season. Brevin Knight has missed quite a few games. And Pau Gasol just returned (early) from his broken foot. That's four out of five bench spots spent on injured players. The last spot is generally reserved for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Andreson Varejao, or the new flavor of the week -- Luther Head currently.

Cure: What ails the Bears is the injuries of course, but also a slight lack of focus. After eight weeks of play, it's clear that the Bears won't be scoring champions anytime soon. The first thing to do is ditch PTS -- like altogether. There's no sense for this team to fight it out for PTS. Not enough high powered scorers here.

So, following that logic, who needs to go? First off, Ben Gordon. He's a great talent, and a nice scorer, but miscast on this team. Gordon can drop in the points (19.2) and shoot a few threes (1.5) but his turnover to assist ratio is atrocious. There are a lot of teams who could use a nice scoring option despite those weaknesses, just not the Bears. See you later Little Ben.

Once Gordon goes, and Bibby gets his groove back, FG% will rise to respectable and competitive levels again (the only potentially horrible shooter here is Head, but that's a necessary headache; unless a higher percentage shooter with 3PT capability can be found such as Wally Sczerbiak or Raja Bell).

The other question is if Peja can be moved. He's useful for his 3PT and his fine FT%, but he's injured and clearly not the player he once was. He doesn't hurt this team in any category but he's not a huge asset either. Luther Head could do his job, and better -- assuming he gets enough minutes to jack up threes. In truth, one hot 3PT shooting hand can win a close long range battle, so 3PT is never quite lost. Ruben Patterson fits in pretty nicely on this team (despite his horrific FT%) and will hopefully continue to produce.

Varejao and Abdur-Rahim can go. They're decent players but are useless in this lineup. Varejao is only solid when Gooden is out and that's not often enough. Shareef's prime is over and he doesn't contribute in anything but PTS and REB -- and not quite enough on the boards.

Anyone who can REB and do something else that's not scoring is welcome. David Lee (or even Zaza Pachulia) would be perfect since he has sterling percentages, STL, and great REB. Maybe even target the slumping Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor or somebody like that to really pump up those STL or BLK numbers.

What this team needs are: another shot blocker, another strong rebounder, another ball thief, and another assist man -- even a four or five assist a game guy. Luckily, the return of Pau covers the first two needs, leaving just the last two pieces. The bait? Gordon and Josh Childress, whose great FG% is wasted on the Bears.

Fight hard for REB, BLK, STL and then let matchups win AST, FG%, FT% or 3PT. Trade and pick up guys who won't hurt turning the ball over or missing shots from the stripe; just make sure these new guys have a strength in one of the aforementioned positive categories. That's the idea anyway. There is no clear dominant strength on this team, but they are a solid middle of the pack in nearly everything. With the return of Pau, the real AK47, and a few tweaks to the roster, this team can be just as sweet as honey. Mmmmh.

Shopping List: Jameer Nelson, Mehmet Okur, Mike Dunleavy, Raja Bell, Ben Wallace, Jarrett Jack, Josh Howard, Darko Milicic, Zaza Pachulia, Al Jefferson, Andrew Bogut, Rasheed Wallace, Shane Battier, Emeka Okafor, Mo Williams, Shaun Livingston, Andris Biedrins, Jorge Garbajosa, David Lee, Mickael Pietrus, Sean May, Erick Dampier, Boris Diaw, Jamaal Tinsley, JR Smith, Luke Walton, Gerald Wallace, Channing Frye, Speedy Claxton, Alonzo Mourning, David West, Luke Ridnour, Nazr Mohammed, Charlie Bell, Ron Artest, Wally Szerbiak, Larry Hughes, Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick, Brad Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Mike Miller.

News alert: The reason J's basketball team has been so bad? His keeper football team won their first championship this season! That's why! Congrats!

Recap: Week 8

Inter-Conference Games
5-4, Funk Coalition vs The Poobic Heirs
8-1, Fat Jubas vs Pooh Bears
8-1, Chunky Monkeys vs Human Amoebas
7-2, Rhythm Drive vs Phanatics

Conference Games
6-3, Buffy vs Sour Snails
5-4, Squirtle Squad vs MoRRie's Pogiboys
(statistics)

5-4, Funk Coalition vs The Poobic Heirs
Is there life after Melo? Apparently there might be as the Funk pulled off a convincing win against the Poobic Heirs -- ratcheting up 634 PTS and 49 3PT in the process. It was a team effort as Rafer Alston, Earl Boykins and TJ Ford took advantage of higher profile teammates' injuries to post good weeks. The big man on campus for Funk was Mehmet Okur, who put up averages of 22 PTS, 8.5 REB and 3 3PT for the week.

The Heirs drop to 4-4 and lose Yao for a few weeks, which could prove to be problematic. The rest of the team is just doing so-so and it looks like Kobe's going to have to step up his game to replace Ming's numbers. One player who is still as steady as ever for Oliver is Caron Butler, who sported an average of 27.6 PTS, 10 REB and 2.3 STL for the week. Damn, too bad he's not still a Laker eh?

8-1, Fat Jubas vs Pooh Bears
What happens when the first place team from one division meets the fourth place team from the other division? Beat down. The Bears got rocked and were left without any honey or any wits. The Bears almost won 3PT (lost by one) but aside from turnovers, they were apathetic, ineffective, and just ick. Point guard Mike Bibby hasn't been able to shoot all season long, AK47 is still misfiring a bit, and right after we called Andre Miller and Brevin Knight the most underrated passing duo in the league, Brevin gets knocked up and Miller gets traded. Oh right, Peja's out for a few weeks too. Pau Gasol, it's showtime!

The Jubas are actually suffering from some injury woes of their own as Tracy McGrady has been sidelined -- as usual. Without him, the roster is still very solid, but not having that second star alongside the indomitable Dwayne Wade hurts. Of course, AI2 could fill that void very quickly (23.6 PTS, 7 AST, 2.33 STL, 1.33 3PT). With an emerging Al Jefferson and the still solid play of Josh Howard, Tony Parker, and Jermaine O'Neal, this team is still the cream of the crop -- possibly in both divisions?

8-1, Chunky Monkeys vs Human Amoebas
Another beat down for the West. The Monkeys annihilate the Amoebas this week. Granted, the Amoebas were facing a six game GP disadvantage (Q Richardson got hurt) so let's just write this week off as what it was okay? A blip on the radar for Eric-A. Kids, Ben Wallace is back -- with 3 STL and 2.66 BLK this week -- sort of -- only 7.3 REB. The more timely question is to figure out if Starvin Marvin Williams is for real or not -- he's been scoring, but not much else. We'll find out soon enough as he's been getting 30+ minutes a night.

The Monkeys didn't have a stellar week but who cares, they finally won a football championship! With a keeper roster that has sported unbelievable stars each and every year (Peyton, LDT, Shaun, LJ, TO, etc), they'd never reached the mountain top before. They finally did it this year and they are elated. A dominating win in basketball is just the cherry on top. It's time for us to address the madness that is Mo Williams. 25.6 PTS, 8.7 REB, 6.7 AST and 1.7 3PT for the week, and that's not really too crazy for him. He's one of only four players to average 15 points and 5 reb/ast on the season. This guy is Jason Kidd with a shot! The other young point guard on this team, Shaun Livingston, might never get this good, ever -- despite much more hoopla.

7-2, Rhythm Drive vs Phanatics
Someone's got to defend the honor of the East this week and who better than the bruising Rhythm Drive? They edged out the Phanatics by 8 PTS but really, when you're cruising in a blow out, do the points really matter? Reno's squad is still minus Chris Bosh but Mike Miller stepped up this week in his absence and took over early (24.25 PTS, 8 REB, 4.75 AST and a mind numbing 19 3PT). The Drive will need Miller to keep it up as nobody else on this team is capable of scoring like he can.

We already know what ails the Phanatics: injuries. Add two more to the list. Paul Pierce out for two weeks, and Marcus Camby out for his annual trip to Club Med. While this could open the door for Nene, with Pierce, Camby, Odom, and D West on the bench, this team will be hard pressed to win anything in the upcoming weeks. The good news is, well, um, Vince Carter's still healthy? Injuries are starting to effect every team, but the Phanatics may be the hardest hit of all.

6-3, Buffy vs Sour Snails
Despite a four game win streak and a surging month, Buffy could be headed for some rough waters. Top 3PT shooter JR Smith is still gone for another week or two, but worse than that, MVP candidate Rashard Lewis is down for the count for up to two months. That's like a whole bucketful of 3PT -- along with tons of other stats from Lewis. Then again, it's not like Chris Paul, Baron Davis, Joe Johnson, and Antawn Jamison (plus the definitely for real Eddy Curry) are anything to sneeze at. Buffy should contine to fight for top dog status in the West while waiting for the return of JR Smith. And hey, Andre Miller could make Chris Webber valuable again -- long shot, but possible.

The Snails aren't in a good place, but we've been saying that all season. Although a quick resolution to the Iverson situation is great, nagging injuries to Ron Artest, Wally Szcerbiak, and Jason Richardson continue to wreak havoc on this team. Nothing's worse than not knowing when, or if, your top players will play. In a bid to renovate his team, Trieu has placed 80% of his roster on the trading block. C'mon guys, it's a fantasy auction!

5-4, Squirtle Squad vs MoRRie's Pogiboys
Facing off against the behemoth of the East, one loss Squirtle Squad, the Pogiboys weren't given much of a chance. But we all know that MoRRie loves the holidays and with Christmas cheer behind him, he put up quite the fight before losing by just a few free throws. Still, this team is (finally) looking up. And look at that, the Pogiboys resurgence -- can it be a "re-" if there was no surging in the first place? -- is being led by Stephon Marbury (15.75 PTS and 7.5 AST) who isn't the best point guard in the league anymore *cough*cough* but is starting to drop some dimes. The new year could see the Pogiboys pick up some steam -- and cookies, and candy canes, and fuzzy red hats. MoRRie says "Happy Holidays!"

This might be the closest Squirtle comes to a loss for quite awhile. They're back at full strength with Ray Allen and Brandon Roy back and should only continue to get better. The one season ending injury here, Nenad Krstic, could hardly make that much of an impact and unless KG or Boozer take a dive, the Squirtles could go undefeated the rest of the way? Wait, let's not jinx them yet, this early in the season. On a side note, David Lee averaged 16.5 REB this week, over four games. I can't believe I didn't stay with this guy. He's like Rodman without the hair, the tattoos, the muscles, the crazy, or the melatonin. Give him back!

Phan Phrenzy

Well, looking over the Phanatics roster, you would think that they could manage more than two wins so far. They have one of the best rosters on paper and they seemed to have drafted well at every position. However, a few injuries and a weird blend of talent has this team barely treading water. Let's take a look.

PTS, REB, AST: How does a team with Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Richard Jefferson, Lamar Odom, and Al Harrington rank 8th in the league in PTS? After a stellar first few weeks of scoring, the Phanatics have dropped incredibly far in points scored. The problem isn't the top of the roster, it's at the bottom. The supporting cast isn't known for scoring -- like, at all -- and with Jefferson underperforming and Odom inevitably cooling off (15 and 17 ppg respectively) there's nobody else here to provide scoring support. But hey, at least this team can rebound. Marcus Camby is the man in the middle and he gobbles up 11 rebs a game. Camby, along with Drew Gooden and Lamar Odom, give the Phanatics enough muscle on the boards to rank 4th in the league. Assists is a problem. Only Luke Ridnour averages more than 5 AST a game. Pierce, Carter, and Odom are all at about 4 per game, but that's hardly better than Marcus Camby (3 AST per), for comparison's sake. Unsurprisingly, the Phanatics suck at passing, ranking second-to-last. Marcus Williams might help here, but he's got oh, Jason Kidd in front of him. Maybe next year.

STL, BLK, 3PT: The one true strength of this team is 3PT shooting. Vince and Pierce are both mad bombers; Ridnour, Odom, Hedo, Harrington, and shudder (or shimmy), Antoine Walker, put in one a game and that's good enough to make the Phanatics dangerous from beyond the arc (4th). BLK and STL is where it gets ugly. 9th in BLK and 12th in STL. The Camby man can but he can't do it alone. There's nobody behind Camby in the BLK department -- unless you count Nazr Mohammad at 1 BLK per game -- and his strong numbers there (2.7 BLK per) are going to be wasted unless Ping can pair him up with another shot blocker. Remember, it takes two to make a thing go right. An even bigger issue is that all these big names can't, or won't, play defense. Nobody steals the ball on this team. Only four players average even close to one steal a game and that's bad enough to rank the Phanatics dead last in the steals department by a wide margin. Play some D kids.

FG%, FT%, TO: It gets worse. The Phanatics are ranked 9th in both percentages and 8th in turnovers. They don't shoot well, they don't pass much, they can't steal at all, and they turn the ball over a lot. Doesn't sound like a winning formula does it? Actually, that 9th in FG% isn't too bad considering this team has Antoine and Vince, among other infamous chuckers. The FT% is being killed by again, Antoine, but also Mason and Harrington. Should Antoine take free throws from beyond the arc? Maybe he should... The turnover thing is also unavoidable. Pierce, Odom, and Ridnour are all primary ball handlers on their teams. If you want AST, you have to take the TO too. The bigger issue is that the mid-tier guys like Mason, Harrington, Hedo and Jefferson don't return anything positive for their semi-high TO numbers.

Bench: To be fair, this team is missing David West, who was projected to be a 18-7 guy with great percentages and a few goodies. Nobody knows how his elbow is but on his return, he should be a very nice complement. Nene, Nazr, Hedo and Marcus Williams are the usual bench mates, but there's been a lot of time logged for each of them since West, Jefferson, Gooden and now Odom are injured or have missed time. Ideally, the bench should provide a bit of REB, BLK, AST and 3PT, but currently, most of the aforementioned guys have been spot starters. It's safe to say that Nene and Hedo are close to waiver wire fodder and Marcus is talented but a year or two away. Nazr Mohammad started the season off strong but has now regressed quite a bit. This bench doubles as a trash heap and hospice.

Cure: First off, what's the best lineup for this team? Pierce, Vince, Odom, Jefferson and Camby as the first five. Follow that up with West, Harrington, Gooden, Ridnour and well, anyone else. Mason, Nazr, Hedo, M Williams, and Antoine are equally (below) average. That's not too bad of a starting ten actually.

What we'd look to do is build a strong all-around team since the Phanatics have so many well balanced players who contribute in many categories. The big three are very key, especially Odom -- whose name pops up all across the statistical board. Camby is key too, as he anchors REB and BLK. However, he needs some help, plus his health (and age) are always a concern. West won't pull too much in a trade now, unless someone wants to pay full price for him, so he stays. He's a solid young forward and should recover from his injury just fine -- eventually. Drew Gooden has more value on this team than off. If the Phanatics don't decide to ditch AST, Ridnour will need a buddy in the backcourt too -- otherwise he's superfluous.

The first thing we'd look to do is deal off all those PTS-REB one or three category guys and bring in some variety in return. Richard Jefferson and Al Harrington, I'm talking to you. They're both redundant on this team. They are nice players, but not really much different than knock-off versions of the stars that already reside on this roster.

Target guys like R Artest, L Hughes, Gerald Wallace, even AK47 in an effort to bring in BLK and STL. FG% is going to be lost from the get-go, so taking back a mad shooter won't hurt. If no big man can be found to pair with Camby, well, look harder. Biedrins, Ben Wallace, Emeka, Gasol or Kaman might be had at the right price. Camby could possibly be traded since he is injury prone (thus forgoing BLK), but someone will have to pick up the REB slack in his stead.

In general, this team is suffering in all areas with no clear strengths and it needs to leverage Vince-Pierce and surround them with category dominant types in the smaller categories like STL and BLK. I'd also look to punt one of the AST, STL or BLK categories since covering all three would be very hard to do at this point.

Build up the PTS, REB, 3PT to dominant levels and also make moves to compete hard in STL and BLK (or AST). This team is probably unlikely to ever get good at FG% or TO but FT% should be okay after a few of the transgressors leave the roster. The entire bench is suspect and could use a few promising names, or at least a few category stuffers ala Damon Jones. This team is full of potential but needs a few adjustments to achieve their best.

Ch-ch-change...

Some names to look at: Zaza Pachulia, Kyle Korver, Jarrett Jack, Raja Bell, Chris Duhon, Darko Milicic, Al Jefferson, Brevin Knight, Devin Harris, Monta Ellis, Andrew Bogut, Danny Granger, Mo Williams, Andris Biedrins, David Lee, Randy Foye, Jamal Crawford, JR Smith, Luke Walton, Damon Jones, Troy Murphy, Speedy Claxton, Jason Williams, Stephen Jackson, Larry Hughes, Mike James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Steve Francis.

Pick up right now: Charlie Bell, Chucky Atkins (gone), Earl Watson, Willie Green (gone) types and dump Antoine and Hedo and probably Nene. Grab young bigs like Andrew Bynum and Travis Outlaw for the future. Heck, replace the whole bench!