Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Iman Shumpert

April 2 by 1 Comment

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

March 26 by Leave a Comment

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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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Evan Turner

March 19 by Leave a Comment

The Philadelphia 76ers currently sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and lead the Atlantic Division. Basketball fans in the City of Brotherly Love are amped for a strong finish to the regular season and a meaningful playoff run after an impressive first-round exit courtesy of the Heatles in 2011.

SG/SF Evan Turner was inserted into coach Doug Collins’ starting lineup last week, and his numbers have exploded. Turner was the 2nd overall pick out of Ohio State in the 2010 NBA Draft. After struggling to adjust to the intense, super-speed, pro-level game in his rookie season, the 6’7” Buckeye and 2010 National Collegiate Player of The Year has seemingly found his groove.

In his rookie year Turner averaged 23 minutes per game, 7.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 2 apg. This compacted season, he’s averaging 25.6 minutes per game, 9 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 2.7 apg. However, Turner put up serious ‘growth’ numbers in Philly’s nine March contests: 13.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 3.1 apg in 33.1 minutes. Even better, in his last six games Turner has improved to 17.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 3.5 apg and 37.5 minutes per game.

Obviously, Coach Collins and Turner’s teammates have developed more trust and confidence in the 2nd-year wing player, and he is taking full advantage of his opportunity. Turner’s on-court production is finally catching up to his high basketball IQ. And after receiving a lot of flack (as did the 76ers organization) for his lack of numbers last season, Turner has ‘turned’ the corner and become a player you have to account for in transition and in half-court sets.

Look for Evan Turner’s numbers and fantasy value to continue on an upward trajectory now that he is a no-doubt, full-time starter for the first time in his burgeoning career.

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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Brandon Bass

March 12 by Leave a Comment

The Boston Celtics currently occupy the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference with close to two-thirds of the compacted 66-game schedule complete. At some point in recent weeks each of the storied Green’s ‘Big 4’ of Pierce, Garnett, Allen and Rondo has been mentioned in potential trades.

GM Danny Ainge has been active behind the scenes in determining whether he should move one of his key players in order to inject fresh blood into the aging roster or let the C’s stand pat and make one last run with their once championship core.

Either way, 1st-year Celtic F Brandon Bass will be a key component of coach Doc Rivers’ plans down the stretch and into the postseason. The 26-year-old, 6’8”, 255 lb. Bass is in his seventh season out of LSU, where in 2005 he was named SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore.

Bass is averaging 29.7 minutes per game, 11.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg this season – all career highs. The tough, hardworking forward started the season putting up big scoring numbers. In four December contests he averaged 15.3 ppg and had one game of 20 points and 11 boards.

Bass has been a consistent front-line contributor for the team. Outside of a stretch in mid-February when he experienced swelling in his left knee and sat out the six games prior to the All-Star break, Bass has been night-in and night-out the most scoring-minded player on Boston’s second unit. He’s most often the first guy off the bench and in recent weeks has been inserted into the starting lineup due to injuries.

Starting C Jermaine O’Neal has missed the past nine games with a sprained right wrist and may be out for the season. And veteran PF Chris Wilcox will be out indefinitely because of a recent heart exam that showed a potential abnormality. Add to this the possibility that one or more of the ‘Big 4’ may be dealt in the next 72 hours and Bass’ role, minutes and expectations increase dramatically.

So far in March, Bass has averaged 30.8 minutes per game. And even if the C’s stick with their current roster, that number will certainly rise as Doc Rivers begins resting 17th-year Garnett, 14th-year Pierce and 16th-year Ray Allen for the stretch run and likely playoffs.

With virtually no training camp and preseason due to the lockout, Bass and other players switching teams in the offseason had hasty and frenzied introductions to new systems and schemes. With each passing day, players like Brandon Bass become more acclimated to their new environments and further integrated into their teams’ rotations, so look for Bass’ production to steadily increase.

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Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Luke Ridnour

March 5 by Leave a Comment

In this compacted, 66-game season every contest is vital for Minnesota’s hopes of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in eight long seasons. Under coach Rick Adelman, the Timberwolves have compiled a 19-19 record up to this point in the ultra-competitive Western Conference and sit 1.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth seed.

With J.J. Barea’s first year as a member of the Wolves marred by nagging injuries and 21-year-old Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio slowing down a bit in both points and dimes in the past 5 weeks, there exists a strong possibility that coach Adelman and staff will rely more heavily on playoff-tested Luke Ridnour in the second half of this night-in-night-out grind of a season.

Lucas ‘Luke’ Ridnour, a 9th-year PG out of the University of Oregon, has started in 36 of the Wolves 38 games so far. Last season was Ridnour’s first as a Twin Cities baller. The 14th overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft averaged career-highs in 2010-2011 with 11.8 ppg and .44 3P%.

This season the former Duck has upped his minutes to 31.5 per game, even with 2009 pick PG Rubio entering the league this year and the signing of veteran lead guard Barea in the offseason. Although Ridnour’s production this campaign versus last is down a tad, in recent weeks he has stepped up his game and stat totals. Ridnour played 43 minutes and had 15 points, 8 dimes and 3 steals in the Wolves’ loss at Phoenix on March 1.

As teams continue to key on superstar PF Kevin Love to stop the Wolves, the perimeter shooters like Ridnour, with a record of success from 23’9” and beyond, will be open more often for the impactful long-ball. As the Wolves fight and claw to gain entry to the 2012 postseason, a player such as Luke Ridnour, with a history of a good assist-to-turnover ratio, will be a solid, valuable presence on the floor for Minnesota.

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