Fantasy Basketball Buzzer Beater for Nov. 1st, 2010

After a quiet preseason Al Thornton had a very productive night against a tough Atlanta Hawks team last Saturday. He played 42 minutes and finished the game with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, shooting a ridiculous 67% from the field.  The Wizards have only played 2 games so far, which may explain why he is owned in only 17% of Yahoo leagues.  With the status of Gilbert Arenas situation in disarray, Thornton is currently the 2^nd offensive option after John Wall and is a solid pickup if you need help in the scoring category.

Speaking of John Wall, after spraining his ankle last Saturday against the Hawks, Head Coach Flip Saunders is confident that Wall will play on Tuesday versus the 76ers.

Darrell Arthur became fantasy-relevant in week 1, but with the return of Marc Gasol and likely return of Zach Randolph, Arthur’s production of 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 steal per game, while shooting 60% will come to an end.  Zach Randolph is still healing up from pain in his tailbone and is a game time decision for the next Grizzlies game against the Lakers. Randolph isn’t exactly the most durable player (last year was an exception), so don’t be surprised if he sits out again, giving the opportunity for the Sir Arthur to reign over fantasy-relevancy land once again.

Roy Hibbert has been dishing out dimes left, right, and center through the first 3 games, averaging 4.7 per contest.  He averages just one assist less than Point Guard Darren Collision.  Expect this to continue as Head Coach Jim O’Brien has been adamant about running the offense through Hibbert. Add 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, and you have one of the best lines of week one.

Marcus Thornton has outplayed starter Marco Belinelli through the first 3 games of the season, with higher scoring, steals, and rebound averages. It is looking like Thornton is fully out of the doghouse. Coming off the bench may not be the worst thing for Thornton as he becomes the go-to-guy on the 2^nd unit.   Still, Thornton owners need to be patient; there is no way Belinelli continues to play 27 minutes while Thornton gets 20 minutes.  Expect a swap in minutes soon enough and increased production from Thornton.

Check out the Derrick Rose’s fantasy value debate on Rotoprofessor.com.

Fantasy Basketball Buzzer Beater is a daily feature where either Rizzla or J-Has scour the Internet for the top fantasy basketball related links and provide them all in one place to make your life easier.

Written by Win My Fantasy League Senior Writer Justin Hasan (J-Has)

Comment below or e-mail him at JHas@WinMyFantasyLeague.com