Each Sunday, the Dashboard centralizes all the crucial information fantasy managers need to dominate their weekly head-to-head matchups or climb the standings in their rotisserie leagues. The Dashboard covers schedule analysis, status updates, adds, drops, watch list candidates, and deep league targets for managers of all skill levels. Quite simply, it is a comprehensive weekly cheat sheet packed with every bit of information that you could possibly need.
Week 4 Schedule Grid
Click here for a full season schedule grid. Hat tip to kiwishaq on the busersports forums.
Week Four, quality games.
1 game: DAL, HOU, LAL, MIA, NOR, UTA
Week Four, best schedules.
HOU: @WAS, DET, NOR, SAS
CHI: @MEM, PHO, @CLE, CHA
SAS: @MIA, ORL, SAC, @HOU
MIN: SAC, DET, @LAC, @UTA
Week Four, worst schedules.
PHO: @CHI, @NYK, @BOS
UTA: LAC, DAL, MIN
LAL: DAL, @MIA, @ORL, IND
ATL: TOR, POR, @PHI, CLE
Status Updates — quick hitters from around the league
• Andrea Bargnani is day-to-day with a left calf strain but is not expected to play on Monday against the Hawks.
• Andray Blatche is a game-time decision Monday against the Rockets. Rashard Lewis is out with a sore knee.
• Andrew Bogut (concussion-like symptoms) practiced with the Bucks on Sunday and is expected to play on Monday against the 76ers.
• Stephen Curry hopes a solid practice on Monday will pave the way for a return to action on Tuesday against the Cavs.
• Josh Howard was held out of Sunday's game against the Nuggets with a strained left quadriceps. His quad tightened up during warmups, and he will be re-evaluated on Monday with an eye on playing Tuesday against the Clippers. Howard initially suffered the strain on Jan. 3, and has been playing with lingering pain since. He has missed 141 games over the past three seasons.
• The MRI on Chris Paul's strained left hamstring came back negative, and he is currently listed as day-to-day. Consider him questionable for Monday's game against the Nets. Paul injured his hamstring during the fourth quarter of Saturday's win against the Lakers, and was held out for the remainder of the game as a precaution.
• Jason Richardson is day-to-day with a bone bruise in his left knee, but is expected to miss the entirety of Orlando's back-to-back-to-back series, which kicks off on Monday against the Knicks.
• Derrick Rose suffered a minor setback and was in a walking boot as he entered the United Center. He will sit out Monday's game, and is considered questionable for Tuesday's contest against the Suns; John Lucas will start in his place.
• Dwyane Wade was limited to the weight room on Sunday, and though he was moving well and isn't in a walking boot, there currently is no timetable for his return. X-rays on his sprained right ankle were negative, but the Heat are going to give him plenty of time to rest up so he can get right. Wade was also dealing with a foot injury prior to spraining his ankle. Expect a more definitive update on his status prior to Miami's game on Tuesday.
Add List — players currently owned in less than 40% of Yahoo! leagues
• Luke Ridnour, G, MIN (30% owned)
The arrival and potential emergence of Ricky Rubio was supposed to be nothing but bad news for Ridnour. He was in for at least a reduction in minutes given the two play the same position, and if things went according to plan, a bench role somewhere down the line. Well Rubio seized the starting point guard job just 11 games in, and not only has Ridnour remained in the starting lineup, but he's also managed to see a marked increase in play time this month (from 23 mpg to 34 mpg). The Rubio-Ridnour backcourt tandem has worked wonders for coach Adelman and the Wolves as they've yet to see any sort of consistency (or competence) from either Wes Johnson or Wayne Ellington -- Ridnour's player efficiency rating of 13.7 tops Johnson and Ellington's combined mark of 12.7 -- on the wing. Rubio's defensive versatility should enable Ridnour to continue to play heavy minutes at the off-guard spot moving forward, which should keep him plenty relevant. He continues to excel from midrange (64 percent on twos beyond 10 feet), and has been a far more proficient finisher around the basket area than in years past (57 percent, up from 51 percent the year before). There's nothing in his per-36 minute averages that indicates his production is unsustainable, and if anything, his free-throw percentage is due for some regression (82 percent this season, 87 percent career).
• Kawhi Leonard, SF, SA (19% owned)
It's not often that coach Greg Popovich throws around praise, especially at a first-year player, so it came as a bit surprise when Pop made the comparison between Leonard and Bruce Bowen just 11 games into his rookie season. While that comparison certainly has merit, it also undersells Leonard's ability on the offensive end, where he can knock down 18-foot jumpers, make smart cuts away from the ball off Tony Parker and Tim Duncan in the pinch-post, and crash the glass for putbacks. He's run away with the starting shooting guard job in Manu Ginobili's stead, and is in the midst of a five-game streak where he's scored in double figures. Leonard's per-game averages during that span: 13.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.8 spg, and 0.8 bpg on 57 percent shooting from the field.
• Jonas Jerebko, F, DET (28% owned)
We've been through this before, but a brutal five-game stretch that saw him fail to score in double figures once saw his ownership level plummet once again. That slump can largely be explained by one factor though: Rodney Stuckey. Jerebko does the majority of his damage away from the ball -- almost half of his attempts come at the rim -- and he relies on his teammates to find and feed him in and around the basket area. Stuckey isn't a gifted passer by any stretch, but he looks like Steve Nash when compared to his replacement, Brandon Knight. The Pistons offense tends to stagnate a great deal while Knight runs the lead, a point that is beared about by his paltry 16.6 percent assist ratio -- a mark that puts him 56th among 62 point guards. Just take a look at these splits:
With Stuckey: 12.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.8 threes, 56% FG on 8.9 attempts
Without Stuckey: 4.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.3 threes, 28% FG on 7.3 attempts
It shouldn't come as any surprise then that Jerebko bounced back with a 22-point, nine-rebound performance against the Bobcats on Friday in Stuckey's second game back from a groin injury. It's time to get Jerebko rostered again.
• Matt Barnes, GF, LAL (27% owned)
Barnes is coming off perhaps the best season of his eight-year career, and has picked up right where he left off. He's a fairly limited player who lacks any real range on his shot and is shaky ball handler off the bounce, but the good thing is that he understands these limitations and sticks to what he does well. Barnes rarely takes bad shots in the flow of the Lakers' offense, and gets most of his offense off cuts away from the ball. He's been a highly adept finisher around the basket area, where he converts 79 percent of his looks. In an offense where usage is heavily dominated by Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol, Barnes gives them exactly what they need -- a scoring option away from the ball who doesn't require a lot of looks to be effective.
Cut List — players who should not be rostered in standard formats
• Nick Young (80% owned), Lamar Odom (76% owned), Michael Beasley (70% owned), Jamal Crawford (68% owned), Ben Gordon (66% owned), Devin Harris (64% owned), Carl Landry (63% owned), Derrick Williams (51% owned), J.J. Hickson (50% owned), Toney Douglas (46% owned), C.J. Miles (44% owned), Jimmer Fredette (44% owned), Derrick Favors (42% owned), Marcus Camby (42% owned), John Salmons (41% owned), Ramon Sessions (40% owned)
Watch List — players currently owned in less than 40% of Yahoo! leagues to monitor closely in standard leagues
• Josh Howard, GF, UTA (16% owned)
If we're talking best free agent signings this off-season, dollar-for-dollar, the conversation starts and stops with Josh Howard. Signed at a one-year deal valued around $3 million, Howard has been Utah's third best player to this point behind Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson. Durability has always been an issue -- he's played just 105 games over the last three seasons -- and it still is, but he's resembled that dynamic two-way athlete we saw in Dallas over three seasons ago. There certainly isn't much by way of a long-term guarantee that he'll stay healthy -- he's already dealing with a strained left quad -- but the per-game production is legitimate and he should continue to be productive so long as he is in the lineup.
• George Hill, G, IND (37% owned)
There was a bit of an adjustment period for Indiana George as he adjusted to life outside of San Antonio's system, where he was able to play off the ball while Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker drew most of the defensive attention. He's stepped up to the challenge of creating more of his own offense -- only 41 percent of his baskets have been assisted, down from 52 percent -- and has more or less matched his production from last season with incremental improvements across the board. One thing to keep an eye on is his steal average, which has almost doubled this season. Hill has at least two steals in four of his last six games.
• Evan Turner, GF, PHI (38% owned)
Turner still can't shoot a lick from outside, coming in at just 24.4 percent from outside 16 feet, but he's made major improvements in other areas to more than offset his perimeter woes. He leads all shooting guards in rebound rate for one -- his 12.5 percent mark tops a number of big men including LaMarcus Aldridge, Luis Scola, Dirk Nowitzki, Boris Diaw, and Joel Anthony -- but most importantly, he's being more aggressive as a slasher. Turner has finished an astounding 84 percent of his attempts from 9 feet in, and he's starting to draw fouls with some sort of regularity. Perhaps Turner won't ever reach that level of superstardom that's expected from a former second overall pick, but he's well on his way to becoming a very good (All-Star caliber?) player.
• O.J. Mayo, SG, MEM (40% owned)
This has more to do with opportunity than improvement, as Mayo has seen a huge bump in usage since Zach Randolph went down with a medial collateral ligament tear. His average usage with Randolph in the lineup: 16.2 percent. Without Randolph? 29.7 percent. His player efficiency rating has barely budged from his career-low mark last year, but the increased looks have led to January per-game averages of 12.1 ppg, 4 rpg, 0.6 spg, 0.5 bpg, and 1.4 threes. You could do far worse than that as an end-of-bench option.
Deep League Specials — players currently owned in five percent or less of Yahoo! leagues who warrant a roster spot in deep leagues (14 teams+)
• Trevor Booker (5% owned), Jon Leuer (4% owned), Omer Asik (3% owned), Josh Harrellson (2% owned), Chris Singleton (2% owned), Ivan Johnson (2% owned)
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