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The Houston Rockets’ Patrick Beverley attacks the game with the tenacity of a Doberman and is really looking like a bona fide NBA starter and fantasy contributor.
In today’s edition of “All Wired Up”, I’ll delve into the fantasy strengths of potential waiver wire gold like Beverley and the Dallas Mavericks’ Shawn Marion.
» Patrick Beverley, PG, Houston Rockets (6.3 percent owned on ESPN.com)
19 points (6-9 FG, 5-5 FT), 2 three-pointers, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers vs Jazz.
With Patrick Beverley, it seems you either love him or you hate him. If you are a Houston Rockets’ fan, you undoubtedly love him. But, as it seems, if you are the run-of-the-mill fantasy basketball player, you hate the second year guard out of the University of Arkansas.
The fact that Beverley is only owned in 6.3 percent of ESPN leagues is, quite frankly, insane. Especially when you consider the numbers he has put up this season. On Basketball Monster.com, Beverley is the 75th ranked player over the course of the entire 2013-14 campaign. And he seems to be only getting better.
In his last two games, Beverley has averaged 17.0 points, 1.5 three-pointers, 3.5 rebiunds, 4.0 asissts, 2.5 steals and 1.0 block per game. You’d be hard pressed to find those sort of numbers from the majority of point guards in the league. That’s what makes the fact that Beverley is so widely available mind-boggling.
One thing is for certain — coach Kevin McHale loves him some Patrick Beverley. At the beginning of the season, McHale named Beverley his starter over last season’s big free agent acquisition Jeremy Lin and has never looked back, even when Beverley missed a month with a broken hand.
Beverley is a great story of perseverance in the league. He was drafted in the second round by the Lakers all the way back in 2009, but didn’t make his NBA debut until 2012, with a stop in Miami in between. He’s worked his way from non-factor, to backup and now to starter on one of the hottest teams in the NBA and a team with legitimate title aspirations.
If you have fantasy basketball title aspirations, consider making Patrick Beverley a starter on your team — he’s going to hit threes, get steals, and get an above average amount of blocks and boards from the point. I own Beverley in most of my leagues and you should too.
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» Shawn Marion, SF/PF, Dallas Mavericks (41.9 percent owned)
11 points (4-10 FG, 2-2 FT), 1 three-pointer, 6 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover vs Celtics.
Shawn Marion is a weird case of a player who started off the season red hot and then dropped off precipitously, only now to re-emerge as a fantasy viable player as we inch toward the season finale.
On Basketball Monster.com, Marion has a season-long rank of 79, which is impressive considering his last month ranks him only at 110 and his last two weeks at 164. In fact over the last few weeks, I wouldn’t have blamed you for dropping him, as many people already have.
But things have started to turn around in the last two games and if Marion can get things happening again, he could be a wildcard for your team’s playoff matchups. He’s averaged 15.0 points, 1.5 three-pointers, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in those games against the Celtics and the Thunder.
What Marion can really help in is rebounds, steals, blocks and both percentages and also contributes slightly in points and I’d recommend looking to add him in 12 team leagues. If he continues this form, you’ll have made a sound investment and if he drops off again, you just cut your losses and look at the waiver-wire (after reading my All Wired Up, of course) and add the next hot player.