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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Kenneth Faried

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Copyright 2012 NBAE - Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty ImagesNBA teams have one to three contests remaining before the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season comes to a close on Thursday. Many Fantasy hoops leagues have determined a winner by this point. But for Fantasy GM’s who are still sweating it out, this last week of ball could be make or break for bragging rights and prizes.

Rookie Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets is the type of player you want to have on your fantasy roster at this late juncture. He has come on like gangbusters, regularly putting up double-doubles. Faried’s production has risen steadily in his first season, and coach George Karl has so much faith in the 6’8” Morehead State product that Denver swapped starting forward Nene to the Wizards at the trading deadline. In fact, the Nuggets have won ten consecutive games when Faried has double-digit rebounds.

Faried has averaged 11.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.4 bpg and 1 spg in 26 minutes per game so far in the month of April. He has five double-doubles in the last eight games. On April 9th Faried scored 27 points and grabbed 17 boards in just 24 minutes.

This cramped season of back-to-backs and 3 games in 3 nights has taken its toll on all the players. However, down the stretch, when veterans are beat up and coaches are resting older guys gearing up for the postseason, it’s good to have a young, athletic, level-10+ energy player like Faried on your roster to produce and contribute.

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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Greivis Vasquez

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Copyright 2012 NBAE - Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty ImagesThe New Orleans Hornets (who were purchased by Saints owner Tom Benson for $338 million on Friday) lost starting point guard Jarrett Jack at the beginning of April to a stress fracture in his right foot. The 7th-year guard out of Georgia Tech will be sidelined for the remainder of the season, so head coach Monty Williams has plugged 6’6″, 2nd-year Venezuelan combo guard Greivis Vasquez into this backcourt hole.

The 2010 ACC Player of The Year at Maryland and former first-round draft choice has filled in nicely for the injured Jack over the past seven games. Since joining the first string, Vasquez’s numbers have increased significantly across the board. He has averaged 34.1 minutes per game, 12.3 ppg, 7.4 apg, 3 rpg and 1.3 steals per game in seven starts. Though the 18-42 NOLA squad has been out of playoff contention for months, the Hornets have gone 5-2 and won their last three contests since Vasquez was inserted into the starting five.

With New Orleans being a team in transition in multiple areas, from ownership, to defining their player core, to devising competitive strategies for success in the West, look for them to give their young guns like Vasquez more run as they finish out the regular season and head to the Lottery. Vasquez should be a solid pick-up for fantasy owners who need to fill in some gaps during the final six regular season games.

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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Avery Bradley

Monday, April 9th, 2012

The Boston Celtics appear to be peaking at just the right time of year. The Green and White have gone 7-2 over their last nine contests. A new, key part of their on-court success is second-year combo guard Avery Bradley.

When 36-year-old, 10X All-Star guard Ray Allen was recently sidelined for a six-game stretch with a sore left ankle, coach Doc Rivers called on the 21-year-old sophomore Bradley to start in his place. Since joining the first unit Bradley has proven he’s an above average off the ball defender and that he can score from the 1 or 2 spot in the backcourt.

Bradley’s production has skyrocketed with his increased playing time. Over the last 9-games he’s averaged 13.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 1.1 steals per game in 35.9 minutes, all significantly higher than his season averages of 5.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.6 steals and 19.2 minutes per game.

In his first start on March 25th in a win at home over the Washington Wizards, the University of Texas product scored a career-high 23 points. On March 28th in a win over the Utah Jazz in Beantown, #0 logged a career-high with 43 minutes. Doc Rivers has exhibited increased confidence in the ultra-athletic Bradley. Even after Allen returned to action against the Spurs, Rivers moved Bradley back into the starting lineup for the subsequent three games.

As the veteran Celtics continue their surge up the Eastern Conference’s playoff-seeding ladder, look for Bradley to gain confidence with each start, accelerate his learning curve and use his above-average athleticism to fill up the stat sheet at both ends.

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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Iman Shumpert

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

New York Knick Jarred Jeffries has described rookie teammate Iman Shumpert as “about as good an on-ball defender as there is in the league right now.” 21-year-old, 6’5” Shumpert will get many more opportunities to display both his defensive and offensive talents now that Madison Square Garden is Linsanity-less after it was discovered that PG Lin has a meniscus tear in his knee.

With 6X All-Star Amare Stoudemire out for at least the rest of the regular season due to a bulging disk in his back, the Knicks’ near-future success will depend on increased production from Shumpert, especially scoring.

The Knicks currently sit in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference at 27-26, 2.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for the last playoff spot. With the 32-year-old, oft-injured PG Baron Davis now in the starting 1-guard spot after having missed the first 32 games of this compacted season, there’s a good chance he’ll have to play limited minutes to avoid re-injuring himself. This probable scenario would give Shumpert even more court time and production.

In fact, Shumpert led NY in minutes played in their last game. Since Jeremy Lin prematurely ended his season four games ago, Shumpert’s playing time has tracked at 35, 32, 41 and 39 minutes, much higher than his season average of 28 mpg. He has scored 11, 25, 25 and 10 in these four contests and averaged 2.5 steals per game. Shumpert’s back-to-back 25-point games set and then tied his career high. His season average of 9.8 ppg will surely rise based on this sample and the overall team circumstances.

Shumpert is just a rookie, but he has been learning and improving in the 24/7 hoops cauldron that is New York City and MSG. With added run, this one-time Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket will be in position to fill up the stat sheet. In fact, in his last year playing for the Ramblin Wreck, Shumpert led his team in scoring, rebounds and assists.

As the Knicks finish out their regular season schedule with the 13 remaining games, Iman Shumpert will be a key and fruitful part of their push to the postseason.

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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Ramon Sessions

Monday, March 26th, 2012

When GM Mitch Kupchak dealt longtime Laker PG Derek Fisher to Houston at the trade deadline many hoops heads were baffled. After all, the 16th-year co-captain came into the league at the same time as backcourt mate Kobe Bryant and was a key contributor in five successful championship campaigns.

But like a lot of squads in the NBA, Los Angeles is looking to get younger and shake things up a bit. They want another shot at the title and realize that the landscape is full of hungry, talented, no-ring teams who are gunning for the glitzy Goliaths.

Queue the spotlight on newly acquired point man 25-year-old Ramon Sessions. Coming from Cleveland in a trade that sent a 2012 first round draft pick, Luke Walton and Jason Kapono to the Cavs, Sessions has quickly supplanted Steve Blake as the starting 1-guard for coach Mike Brown. The hard-working, 5th-year playmaker gives LA atheticism and will take some of the load off of Kobe in helping to create shots for his teammates. The Lakers also like the fact that Sessions can play pick-and-roll basketball.

In his six games as a Laker, Sessions has recorded 19, 23, 29, 29, 36 and 36 minutes – see a trend? In the purple and gold, he is averaging 14.3 ppg, 6.66 apg and 3.5 rpg compared to his overall season averages of 11 ppg, 5.4 apg and 3.1 rpg. As Sessions gets more comfortable in coach Brown’s system and starts gelling with his teammates, his numbers should increase across the board.

In addition, this opportunity with the always-in-the-hunt Lakers represents the first time in Sessions’ budding pro career that he’s balling with multiple All-Stars and that his team has a legit shot at going deep in the postseason. Expect the University of Nevada product to embrace his chance to contribute to this storied franchise.

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