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2/26 - It no longer seems to matter whether Monta Ellis is playing or not. Stephen Curry continued his torrid play with 30 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Over the last three weeks, he’s averaged 23.4 points, 8.6 assists, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.9 steals, while shooting almost 50% from the field and 91% from the line. Ay carumba!

Since the NBA All Star break, 22 players have averaged 40 TSNP or better. Those players have an average price of $7.65M in the TSN Ultimate game. But three of them have a combined price of only $8.8M, which enables just about any moderately wealthy team a chance to compete effectively. You probably know who they are – Curry ($3.95, 49.3 TSNP/G), Darren Collison ($1.7M, 48.1), and Andray Blatche ($3.18M, 40.0). Not surprisingly, all three rank in the top ten in ownership. It looks like there isn’t much roster diversity at the top, so it’s going to be difficult to make a big move with only a month and a half remaining in the season.

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2/25 - GuruGolf is off and running, and Heathcliff Slocum is the most popular golfer this week. I’m not sure that’s a sentence I’ve ever written before. In any event, he appears on about 37% of all foursomes, narrowly nosing out Boo Weekley (35%).

Apparently, PETA has a new billboard with a photo of Tiger Woods and a statement saying “Too Much Sex Can Be a Bad Thing... for little tigers too. Keep your cats (and dogs) out of trouble: Always spay or neuter! PETA”. (billboard image). Aside from the apparent lack of taste, I hadn’t heard that any of Tiger’s escapades produced little tigers. So it seems to be not only tasteless, but pointless.

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2/24 - I guess Kobe was ready to return. His 32 point, 6 assist, 7 rebound, 3 steal, and 2 blocks made him the top all-around fantasy producer of the day, and he even made a game-winning trey with just 4 seconds remaining. Ho-hum.

My friend Alex of The Waiver Wire is soliciting feedback on a potential full-season salary cap baseball game. If you have any thoughts, please speak up.

The Waste Management Phoenix Open (formerly known as the FBR Open) tees off tomorrow morning. Don’t forget to set your rosters.

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2/23 - Once again, key NBA players are dropping like flies. Yesterday’s casualties included Steve Nash, Deron Williams, and Andre Kirilenko. Josh Howard left the game with a sprained knee. Dwyane is still day-to-day… or maybe week-to-week. Danny Granger missed a game for personal reasons. And Tracy McGrady is uncertain if he can play tonight after banging his knee last night. It’s exasperating to plan ahead when the landscape changes so significantly day by day.

Sign-ups for AAA and AA roto baseball leagues for the 2010 RIBC continue at the baseball forum. If you played last year, check the linked thread to see if you are pre-qualified for a AAA league, and if so, sign up for one of the two AAA leagues. If you aren’t on the priority list for AAA, and/or if you haven’t played before, then sign up for a AA league. Currently, there are two leagues open at each level, one to be hosted at Yahoo and the other at ESPN. If you want to play, get signed up now. No cost.

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2/22 - Russell Westbrook had quite a weekend. After narrowly missing a triple double in overtime on Saturday (31 pts, 10 assists, 9 rebounds), he got the extra rebound and completed the feat on Sunday (22/14/10) in regulation. In the TSN game, Kevin Durant was the most popular pickup over the weekend, but Westbrook virtually lapped him in TSNP, 126 to 86.5. Timing is everything. Kudos if you have them both.

Two GuruGolf teams shared the best ball honors this weekend with -48. Worst ball honors were claimed by Who dat?, as Mark Calcavecchia put her team over the top on Sunday with a +4 on #16. Why did I say “her?” Because that’s my wife’s team.

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2/19 - Don’t overlook Denver! They are now 2-0 vs. the Lakers, and 2-0 vs. Cleveland.

No high-buyer-syndrome in TSN hoops last night. The two leading price gainers were LeBron (103 TSNP) and Rajon Rondo (52 TSNP). LeBron’s triple-double was no cheapie either, with 43 points, 15 assists, and 13 rebounds to go with 2 steals and 4 blocks. The last NBA player to put up numbers better than 43-15-13 was Oscar Robertson in 1962 – the year he averaged a triple double. Coincidentally, “the Big O” was at last night’s game, honored in pre-game ceremonies along with Jerry West, LeBron and Carmelo as co-captains of U.S. Olympic gold medal basketball teams.

If you are looking ahead to baseball, we’ve started the signups for RIBC qualifying leagues. Check this thread for instructions on how to sign up. AAA and AA leagues are now forming.

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2/18 - Remember all the discussion last spring and summer about whether Stephen Curry could be successful in the NBA? I don’t think there’s any question now. Last night, with Monta Ellis still sidelined, he once again filled up the stat sheet with 24 points, 15 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. His 24 points were only the third highest on his team, as C.J. Watson chipped in 40, while Anthony Morrow contributed 25. Pretty decent night for Warrior guards. And the question on Curry is no longer if he can make it, but if he can star.

So Tiger Woods is going to read a script on camera at 11am on Friday. Do you suppose that the timing has anything to do with the fact that one of the sponsors who dumped him – Accenture – will be in the midst of their signature match-play tournament at the same moment?

In the non-Accenture event, GuruGolf managers flocked to K.J. Choi this week, as he found his way onto 60% of all foursomes. Sounds like a candidate for “high buyer syndrome”. Less than half of the golfers in this week’s field are represented on GuruGolf rosters.

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2/17 - I guess it was the perfect storm. The Lakers were playing the defensively-porous Warriors, and Kobe Bryant was in street clothes. Shannon Brown made the most of his extra opportunities, with 27 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block – ending the night as the only NBA player to top 50 TSNP in 10 games of action.

GuruGolf lineups are going to require a lot of activity. The field in the Mayakoba Golf Classic lacks much overlap with last week’s. We may be heading into a tough stretch for trade conservation, as the next two events are in Arizona and then Florida. And of course, the top 64 players in the World Golf Rankings are playing in the WGC match play tournament this week, so they’re out of play for GuruGolf. Choose wisely, grasshoppers.

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2/16 - Yesterday’s server upgrade went fairly well, and most of the current RotoGuru features are operational, although I’m still discovering an occasional minor glitch. (If you notice something awry, please report it here.) Most of the out-of-season functions (football, baseball, etc) have not yet been reinstalled, but I hope to get to that over the next few days. Thanks for your patience during the downtime.

The NBA resumes tonight. If you have been delaying your roster decisions over the break, now is the time to act. Several players have switched uniforms over the weekend. I have some of those team changes included in the sortable stats, but not all. You’ll probably want to stay away from most of those players anyway, at least until their new roles have been defined, and we can see some new production. Then again, if you’re feeling wild and crazy and ready to take a risk, go for it.

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2/12 - It’s the NBA All Star break, and although NBA action (from a fantasy perspective) takes a pause, there are still some things you can do:

• You can set up a team in TSN’s Season Two basic hoops game. Those player prices are in the sortable stats, and now they are in the Assimilator as well.
• You can start thinking about baseball. I updated the MLB schedule yesterday.
• GuruGolf action continues throughout the weekend.

2/11 - Stephen Curry made the most of an injury-depleted Warrior line-up last night, notching a potent 36 point, 13 assist, 10 rebound triple-double. Nothing cheap about that one! Coming out of the chute, Brandon Jennings took the quick lead in the NBA rookie sweepstakes last November, but soon thereafter he was overtaken by Tyreke Evans, who still looks like the odds-on favorite for Rookie of the Year. But with two full months to go, Curry still has to be in that conversation. And lately, Darren Collison has been impressive as well. Chris Paul just wasn’t injured for long enough to get him in the rookie race.

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am teed off this morning on three different courses. For the first three rounds, GuruGolf scores will be consolidated by course, and the cut won’t take place until after those three rounds. Alex Prugh is the most popular GuruGolfer, on almost 30% of all foursomes. Not surprising. As a rookie, he hasn’t missed a cut yet, and in the last three weeks, he hasn’t finished worse than 10th. Time will tell if he’s a Brandon Jennings or a Tyreke Evans.

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2/10 - It seems as though most (maybe all) of the NBA pundits are essentially conceding the NBA Western Conference championship to the Lakers. But watch out for Denver. Although the Lakers have a slight edge in overall record, Denver has a league leading 22-9 record against teams with winning records (compared to 22-12 for the Lakers). And two of those Denver wins were against the Lakers, including one in L.A. The two teams face each other twice more in the regular season, and if the Nuggets can hold serve, it’ll give the Lakers – and everyone else - something to think about.

GuruGolf tees off for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at 9:39am tomorrow (ET). Get your foursomes set. There is a lot of overlap in the fields between this week and last, so a lot of roster tinkering shouldn’t be required. And if you are looking ahead, be aware that next week’s GuruGolf event is the one in Mexico, and not the WGC match play event, which will take out the top 64 players in the world golf rankings.

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2/9 - Perhaps the Colts should have suited up Vince Carter in the second half on Sunday. Carter showed that he could score at will against New Orleans, draining 48 points on 19-27 shooting. Carter has been shooting less than 40% from the field this year, but he was obviously in the zone last night.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Pau Gasol saw that Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum were in street clothes, and evidently decided to put it all on his back, with 21 points, 19 boards, 8 assists, 5 steals, and a block. The Lakers have a schedule that’s well suited for injury recovery, playing only 3 times in the next two weeks. So Pau may not get too much ongoing benefit from the depleted corps.

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2/8 - The Colts weren’t cast well for the role of the villains, although much of the nation was at least moderately rooting for the Saints. It was supposed to be a close game, and – despite the final margin of 14 points – it was. So this one probably goes down as being worthy of the hype. Perhaps most appreciated was the relative lack of penalties, challenges, and even incomplete passes, which kept the clock moving.

Congrats to long time Gurupie Coldwater Coyotes, who vaulted over me to claim the Football Pickoff title. This season produced one of the mostly closely contested battles in recent years – enabled in part because CC came back to the pack after running out to a big lead in late December. All Pickoff prize winners will be notified by email later this week.

In GuruGolf, a glance at the standings helps to point out the value of having golfers survive the cut. Kudos to RoughedUp1 with the top score of -48, generated by combining tournament winner Steve Stricker with three other cut survivors. Worst ball honors were shared by two teams with scores of +40.

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2/5 - In case you hadn’t noticed, the Super Bowl will be played this weekend. And if you’re still hanging in there in Football Pickoff, make sure you get your picked logged in before the kickoff.

With Pickoff winding down, and GuruGolf just getting started, it’s as good a time as ever to comment on the recent decline in GuruPatron donations. As you probably know, the primary source of financial support for this site is the voluntary donations of its users. Advertising and affiliate revenues contribute a little, but I have been unwilling to “gunk up” the site with excessive advertising, and have completely rejected the most annoying forms of advertising – pop-up ads, and pop-under ads, and audio ads. Those would generate more revenue, but at a “quality cost” that I’m unwilling to pay. Over the years, GuruPatron donations have been declining, but have still generally been sufficient to cover at least the marginal costs of running this site.

In 2009, that was not the case, however, as GuruPatron donations were down 50% from the prior year, and for the first time, marginal costs were not covered. If you are playing GuruGolf, you may notice that I’ve decided to cut back on the limited prizes by eliminating multiple prizes to the same managers. I’m also considering some other cost saving moves this year, in an attempt to break even. But as you can see from the current year’s tally (a total of $75 in January), GuruPatron donations are negligible so far this year. Some of that is no doubt due to the economy. But a lot of it, I suspect, is due to the low key approach that I’ve generally taken toward “fundraising”, with the resulting impact that most of you seldom even think about it anymore.

I don’t plan to significantly ramp up my begging. I’m not going to convert this site to a public TV model. But I do think there is still ample interest in preserving this site and this community, and I want to make sure you all recognize that you have a role to play in making that continue to happen. If you haven’t donated in the past, please consider it. (Here is how to do it.) If you’ve donated in the past, but not recently, please consider renewing your support. And if you are one of those who have been diligent in continuing to provide support every year, you have not only my personal thanks, but you should also have the gratitude of the entire Gurupie community, because you are the ones who have kept this enterprise afloat. There aren’t many web sites on this scale that have been around for more than 10 years. I’m not ready to stop yet – but a show of continued support would be greatly appreciated.

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2/4 - The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for the Washington DC area from 10am Friday through 10pm Saturday that could dump 16-24 inches of snow. From a fantasy sports perspective, that has implications because the Wizards are scheduled to host Atlanta on Saturday (after playing in Orlando on Friday). Atlanta plays at home on Friday night as well, so both teams will need to fly into Washington on Saturday. Given the limited snow removal capabilities in the DC area, that game on Saturday night has to be considered speculative. Plan accordingly. Wizards players have not been too popular of late, but there are several players on the Hawks who have been attracting ownership.

Tyreke Evans returned to action with a vengeance last night, leading the Kings in scoring (32), assists (8), and rebounds (7), producing 57.5 TSNP. The Kings still lost to the Spurs, but credit Evans with keeping it close. He scored 23 TSNP in the final two minutes of the game (12 points, 3 assists, 2 steals), turning a 13-point deficit into a 2-point loss. Darren Collison, who many TSN teams traded Evans for on Monday, managed only 21 TSNP for his entire game last night.

GuruGolf is up and running, with 208 teams fielding a foursome for the Northern Trust Open. The most popular GuruGolfer is tour rookie Rickie Fowler, who finished 5th last week at Torrey Pines (after missing the cut in the first two tournaments.) Fowler appears on 22% of all foursomes, followed by another tour rookie, Alex Prugh, who is on 18% of foursomes after making all three cuts so far this year (and tying Fowler last week).

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2/3 - I guess it was a fitting way to end a Groundhog Day – Corey Maggette with an injury-related DNP. I’m quite sure I’ve lived through that moment before.

High buyer syndrome was in full effect again. The top gainer in TSN Hoops, Joakim Noah, responded with 14 TSNP (8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 turnovers, one block.) I guess it was better than a DNP – but not much.

GuruGolf tees it up for the 2010 season tomorrow morning. Set up your teams, fill your foursomes, and start your title run. Why not? As of this moment, we’re all tied for first place.

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2/2 - It’s Groundhog Day. Do you feel like you’ve been here before?

Darren Collison might. Back in November, Chris Paul was out of action for all or part of 9 games, and Collison scored in double figures in all 9 of them, after having scored only 21 total points in the team’s first 9 games. Since Paul’s return in early December, Collison has reached double figures only once – 12 points in 23 minutes at Golden State. But now that Paul is out once again, Collison has responded with scoring games of 17 and 16. However, this time around, he’s also dishing out assists at a Paul-ian rate, with 18 and 14. In his November stint, he only had double-digit assists once (11 on 11/21 vs. Atlanta). Obviously, there’s no reason to expect those gaudy assist numbers to persist, but for now, he’s looking like a “must have” in all salary cap formats, where his price is certainly a shadow of Paul’s. In the TSN game, the transition of Paul to Collison also effectively injects an extra $10+ million into all competitive teams, rendering the excess wealth of the richest teams less impactful.

It’s Groundhog Day. Do you feel like you’ve been here before? I notice that last year, on Feb. 2, the headline of the Blazers @ Hornets game recap was “Paul injured and Blazers beat Hornets 97-89.” That time, Paul missed only 4 games, returning faster than expected. I’d been thinking that he’s been somewhat injury prone in his brief career, but those were the only four games he missed last year, so maybe not. Until this season at least.

It’s Groundhog Day. Do you feel like you’ve been here before? Paul Millsap has averaged 50.5 TSNP/game in the last week, while Carlos Boozer is out with a strained hamstring. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this story before.

It’s Groundhog Day. Do you feel like you’ve been here before? Tyreke Evans was a DNP last night. Until yesterday, he was the second most highly owned player in TSN Ultimate Hoops (behind only LeBron). Seems as though I saw this episode in late December – although at that time, I think he was the highest owned player – or at least neck-and-neck with LeBron. Evans missed only three games that time. This one sounds even less serious, although youneverknow.

It’s a Tuesday, and all my TSN teams are tradeless. Do you feel like you’ve been here before? I do.

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2/1 - The calendar has lapped over to February, and perhaps the biggest incoming developments in fantasy hoops are the injuries to Carlos Boozer and Chris Paul. Boozer’s is only a hamstring strain, but his past history suggests that his recuperative powers are not well developed. Paul’s is a cartilage tear in his left knee, with surgery required. The public prognosis is that he’ll be out for "one to two months." It’s worth noting that the regular season only lasts for another 2½ months. Those who took Paul as the opening pick in their roto draft last fall are now hurtin’ puppies.

The GuruGolf preseason tournament seems to have run smoothly. More than 100 teams were entered. But all that is now moot, as rosters have been cleared, trades have been reset, and the season now begins “for keeps”. Get you team set up and your foursomes in place by Thursday morning’s tee time.

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2010: January

2009: December . . . November . . . October . . . September . . . August . . . July . . . June . . . May . . . April . . . March . . . February . . . January